"VAN" (Sports Desk - 13.04.2024) :: Under bright blue sky and on the glorious waters of Lago di Varese, the 2024 international racing season got underway this morning as the heats of World Rowing Cup I were raced in Varese, Italy.
With focus now firmly on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, this was the first opportunity to see how the last few months of training had gone for crews, and what might be in store later this season.
Great Britain travelled to Italy with one of the largest teams and achieved the greatest number of heat wins today, firmly stamping their authority on the competition. The first of their heat wins was in the first race of the competition when Olivia Bates sculled to a strong victory in the preliminary race of the lightweight women’s single sculls.
The reigning World Champions in the lightweight women’s double sculls, Imogen Grant and Emily Craig, continued their unbeaten streak in this boat class with a strong win in the first heat, while there was a photo finish between Canada, Australia and Italy 2 in the second heat with only 0.04 seconds splitting the three boats. Canada and Australia progressed to the final while Italy 2 must race the repechage.
However, Great Britain – perhaps surprisingly – did not win their heat of the men’s four, where they were pipped to the line by a strong Italian crew, Switzerland having won the previous heat in a similar time.
In the women’s four, a slightly altered crew from Ireland looked intent on improving on their ninth-place finish at last year’s World Rowing Championships when they won their heat ahead of the Netherlands. The second heat was won by Great Britain 1, who also have a slightly new crew this season, featuring double Olympic Champion Helen Glover.
It was a busy day for the single scullers, particularly for the men. With 28 entries, there was heats in the morning and quarterfinals in the afternoon. Germany’s reigning World Champion Oliver Zeidler posted the fastest time across the six heats with Dutch sculler Simon van Dorp the second fastest. In the afternoon’s quarterfinals, Norway’s Olympic silver medallist Kjetil Borch missed out on the semifinals, as did Monaco’s Quentin Antognelli by 0.02 seconds.
In the women’s single sculls the reigning World Champion, Karolien Florijn of The Netherlands, was the fastest across the three heats. Meanwhile, having raced in a variety of bigger boats over the last couple of seasons, Ireland’s Sanita Puspure was back on form in the single sculls, winning the second heat.
The morning session was rounded off with the eights with impressive performances from Great Britain winning their heats in both the men’s and women’s eights - although in the women’s eights, it was Italy 1 that clocked the fastest time of the boat class, winning the first heat.
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