Rowers to Watch at the 2022 European Rowing Championships in Munich

Updated following the Draw on Wednesday 10 August 2022.

With the World Rowing Cup series completed for 2022 and the World Rowing Championships not until September, the best rowers from across Europe will be heading to Munich, Germany this week to compete at the 2022 European Rowing Championships. Rowing will be one of nine sports featured in the multi-sport European Championships Munich 2022.

Women’s Pair (W2-)

Hot on the heels of the World Rowing U23 Championships, where the impressive Greek pairing of Evangelia Fragkou and Christina Ioanna Bourmpou took gold and set a new World Championship Best Time, they will be coming to see what they can do at senior level in Munich. Bourmpou was an A-Finalist in this boat class in Tokyo last summer. They’ll be up against many of the medallists from the World Rowing Cup Series including Great Britain’s Emily Ford and Esme Booth, and Dutch duo Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester. Ireland’s Emily Hegarty and Fiona Murtagh, who won bronze in the women’s four in Tokyo last year, and moved into the pair and won bronze at World Rowing Cup II this season, will also be a boat to watch out for.

Men’s Pair (M2-)

The gold and bronze medalists from World Rowing Cup I and III will be coming up against each other again in Munich! Great Britain’s Oliver Wynne-Griffith and Tom George have picked up two gold medals so far this season and are hoping to make it a third at the Europeans. Meanwhile, Serbia’s Martin Mackovic and Milos Vasic will be hoping to better the two bronzes that they have won. Another interesting boat to keep an eye on will be Lithuania. Dovydas Stanukas, who won silver in this boat class with his brother at the recent World Rowing U23 Championships will be racing with Mantas Juskevicius at this regatta. The Dutch pairing could be one to watch too, Bjorn Van Den Ende and Nelson Ritsema have raced in the four and the eight so far this season, but will race the pair in Munich.

Women’s Double Sculls (W2x)

Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis of Romania are reigning Olympic Champions in this boat class, and also won gold at World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne. The Dutch double of Roos de Jong and Laila Youssifou won gold in both the eight and the double sculls at the first two World Cups this season and will race both boat classes again in Munich. The Irish will also double up into the eight – Sanita Purpure and Zoe Hyde, having won silver in the double sculls at World Rowing Cup II. Don’t overlook Great Britain either. They have been trying lots of combinations in this boat class this season, and the line-up of Kyra Edwards and Saskia Budgett could be an interesting one. The Greek double of Sofia Dalidou and Styliani Natsioula, who absolutely dominated this boat class at the recent World Rowing U19 Championships, breaking the World Championship Best Time twice in the week would have been an interesting boat to watch but were unfortunately withdrawn before the draw

Men’s Double Sculls (M2x)

Martin and Valent Sinkovic have won gold for Croatia at all three World Cups this season after moving to the double sculls after a year of dominating the men’s pair. Can they add European Champions of this boat class to their collection? Spain is potentially the only boat that might try to cause an upset. The duo of Aleix Garcia Pujolar and Rodrigo Conde Romero won bronze at World Rowing Cup I and III.

Women’s Four (W4-)

This boat class is absolutely stacked with talent! Great Britain won gold at both of the World Cups that they attended, in Belgrade and Poznan. In Lucerne, they won by six seconds, setting a new World Cup Best time in the process, so they are certainly the stand out crew of the season so far. Denmark, who took silver in Belgrade, will be out to challenge Great Britain, as will the Dutch, who claimed silver at World Rowing Cup II, alongside their gold in the women’s eight. You can’t forget Romania, either. All four of the crew are Tokyo Olympians and all picked up medals at the last World Rowing Cup of this season.

Men’s Four (M4-)

Returning with the same crew that won gold at World Rowing Cup III, Great Britain is the boat to beat here. However, they should expect competition from the Netherlands, who medalled at the first two World Cups, and also the Romanian crew, which took bronze at World Rowing Cup III and has three of their silver medal-winning Olympic crew from this boat class on board. Don’t write-off Germany either. They just missed out on the podium in Lucerne, but will hope to use the home advantage in Munich.

Women’s Single Sculls (W1x)

Alexandra Foester, the German sculler who took the field by surprise in Lucerne, will be keen to see what she can do on home waters. Following her gold at World Rowing Cup III, she has since won gold in this boat class at the World Rowing U23 Championships. Aged just 20, she is the youngest in the field of 15 scullers. While Foester took gold at World Rowing Cup III, Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands had won the previous two, so it will be great to see the two go head-to-head. Meanwhile, Austria’s Olympic bronze medalist from Tokyo, Magdalena Lobnig had to withdraw from World Rowing Cup I for medical reasons and hasn’t raced internationally since, so she will be an interesting sculler to watch. Also fighting for a spot on the podium will be Switzerland’s Jeanine Gmelin, who has won a silver and bronze at this season’s World Rowing Cups.

Men’s Single Sculls (M1x)

The biggest boat class of the regatta has 21 entries and a wealth of talent. Greece’s Stefanos Ntouskos and Norway’s Kjetil Borch won gold and silver respectively at last year’s Olympic Games, but haven’t raced internationally so far this season. Meanwhile, reigning European Champion in the single sculls, Oliver Zeidler, will be on home waters and has a gold medal from World Rowing Cup I to his name so far this season. However, all of the above are likely to see strong challenges from the other medalists from this season’s World Cups, including Great Britain’s Graeme Thomas, who won gold in Lucerne, and Melvin Twellaar of the Netherlands, who won gold in Poznan. Anything could happen in this boat class!

Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls (LW2x)

Having won gold in the lightweight single sculls in Lucerne, breaking the World Championship Best Time, Great Britain’s Imogen Grant is returning to the double sculls alongside Emily Craig, who has won gold at both World Rowing Cup I and III this season. They will undoubtedly face fierce opposition from the Olympic gold medalists from Italy, Valentina Rodini and Federica Cesarini, and the Olympic silver medalists from France, Laura Tarantola and Claire Bove, who have also claimed medals at World Cup III this season. Expect a strong performance too from Poland’s Katarzyna Welina and Zuzanna Jasinska and Ireland’s Lydia Heaphy and Margaret Cremen, all of whom have won international medals already this year.

Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)

The reigning Olympic Champions are reunited! Ireland’s Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan have raced in the single sculls this season, both picking up medals at World Rowing Cups, but will be back together in Munich, looking to defend their title as European Champions in this boat class. Expect competition from Olympic bronze medalists Pietro Ruta and Stefano Oppo from Italy, and also the boats from the Czech Republic, Spain, France, and Switzerland, all of which have won medals at this season’s World Rowing Cups; it could be an epic final!

Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x)

The Netherlands line-up has impressed so far this season, claiming a gold in Belgrade and bronze in Poznan. Switzerland took silver in Poznan, so will also be a boat to watch out for – as will Italy, who won bronze at the most recent World Rowing Cup in Lucerne. There is an interesting boat entered from Romania; the crew is made up of their two rowers that took gold in the double sculls at the recent World Rowing U23 Championships along with two rowers who won silver in this boat class at the same event. The rowers are all aged 20. Definitely a boat to keep an eye on!

Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x)

Poland has to be one of the favourites in this boat class. The line-up won gold at World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, and members of the crew have also won medals in the double sculls earlier in the season. They are likely to face challenges from the silver and bronze medalists from Lucerne, Italy and Romania. The Netherlands will be an interesting boat to watch too. They may not have been overly-consistent in this boat class this season, but the crew may have been strengthened by Olympic silver medalist in the double sculls, Stef Broenink. Great Britain also hasn’t impressed in the quad so far this season but with a change of line-up and two Tokyo silver medalists on board, they will be hoping to improve on their performances to date.

Women’s Eight (W8+)

The women’s eight has attracted seven entries so will require heats on the opening day. It is an incredible field, filled with talent so it really is wide open. The Netherlands have performed well in this boat class so far this season, claiming gold medals at the first two World Cups. Great Britain hasn’t raced an eight internationally yet this season, but their crew is stacked with rowers who have picked up medals in smaller boats at the World Cups so is expected to be competitive. Romania is also fielding a strong crew, all of whom won medals at World Rowing Cup III across the sweep boat classes. It is also very exciting to see a women’s eight from Ireland entered. The crew includes their three bronze medalists in the women’s four from Tokyo alongside 2018 and 2019 World Champion in the single sculls, Sanita Puspure.

Men’s Eight (M8+)

With five entries, the men’s eight is a smaller boat class than the women’s eight this time round, but it is still bound to be exciting. Great Britain has won gold at two of the World Rowing Cups this season, and Germany won gold at the other. At the most recent World Cup in Lucerne, Germany very nearly missed out on making the podium altogether following a sprint from Romania. A different Romanian crew will race in Munich, although it does still contain five Tokyo Olympians from this boat class, so it will certainly be one to watch out for!

Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls (LW1x)

Having won gold in the lightweight double at both the first and third World Rowing Cups, Great Britain’s Maddie Arlett will race in the single sculls in Munich. Her opposition is likely to include Martine Veldhuis of the Netherlands, who won silver in this boat class at World Rowing Cup I, and German’s Marie-Louise Draeger who has made the final at both of the most recent World Cups.

Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls (LM1x)

Ireland’s Fintan McCarthy was originally due to double up in both the lightweight single and double sculls in Munich and, having won a silver at World Rowing Cup II, was one of the favourites for the podium but was withdrawn prior to the daw. This opens the field up for the other medal contenders; likely to include Slovenia’s Rajko Hrvat and Sweden’s Ahmet Rapi, both of whom have won a medal in this boat class at a World Rowing Cup this season.

Lightweight Men’s Pairs (LM2-)

Three boats will line-up in this boat class: Hungary, Slovenia and Turkey. The Hungarian crew of Bence Szabo and Kalman Furko had a successful season in 2021, including gold in this boat class at last year’s European Rowing Championships, but they haven’t raced internationally since.

Lightweight Women’s Quadruple Sculls (LW4x)

Germany and Italy will go head-to-head in this one. Two of the Italian boat, Rieke Hulsen and Romy Dreher, won silver in this boat class at the World Rowing U23 Championships a couple of weeks ago and will be going for gold in Munich.

Lightweight Men’s Quadruple Sculls (LM4x)

Just Italy and Germany contesting this one also. The German crew is unchanged from the line-up that won gold at World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne; can they take gold on home waters? They will have tough competition from the Italians, who are the reigning European Champions in this boat class.

PR1 women’s single sculls (PR1 W1x)

Out of the four entries, all three medallists from this year’s World Rowing Cup II are entered, but can Israel’s Moran Samuel, who took silver in Tokyo last year, cause a change to the results in Munich? Norway’s Birgit Skarstein took gold in Tokyo and also at World Rowing Cup II, and she will also be looking to defend her title from the 2021 European Rowing Championships.

PR1 men’s single sculls (PR1 M1x)

Reigning Paralympic Champion in this boat class, Roman Polianskyi of Ukraine is also reigning European Champion so will be looking to make his mark in his first international race of 2022. He is likely to face opposition from some of the scullers who have raced at this season’s World Rowing Cups including Italy’s Giacomo Perini, who won gold in Poznan and set a new World Best Time, as well as Great Britain’s Ben Pritchard, who claimed silver in Belgrade.

PR2 mixed double sculls (PR2 Mix2x)

The five boats entered include the gold and silver medal winning boats from World Rowing Cup II this year, Poland and France. The Irish boat is also one to keep an eye on. They just missed out on the podium in Poznan although Katie O’Brien did win gold in the PR2 single scull at that regatta, and set a new World Best Time in the same race.

PR3 mixed coxed four (PR3 Mix4+)

Great Britain has been absolutely dominant in this boat class for so many years and even with a new lineup in Belgrade, took gold at World Rowing Cup I. They didn’t race in Poznan, where Germany took gold, so it will be all to play for when the crews come up against each other. Italy and France will also be on the hunt for medals. With slightly different line-ups to what they entered at World Rowing Cup II, it will be interesting to see how they perform.

 

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