Reliability at the top in the women’s quadruple sculls

It has been anything but usual this quadrennial. With the expected wrap up of the Olympic cycle not taking place due to the postponement of the Olympic Games, the race continues into 2021.

Recap of last four-years:

Unlike many boat classes over the last four years, the top players in the women’s quadruple sculls have remained relatively consistent. It comes down to four countries: China, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. With the exception of Germany, each country has claimed one World Championship gold medal – with some combination of lesser medals throughout.

In the last four years, China was perhaps the biggest surprise. The Dutch and the Polish had been going head-to-head, but a strong new-look Chinese crew managed to finish on top in 2019. And then there are the countries that flirt with the podium including Great Britain, New Zealand, the United States and Australia. They have proven ability to land in the final and are working their way toward podium finishes.

2017 World Championships: NED, POL, GBR, GER, USA, AUS

2018 World Championships: POL, GER, NED, CHN, GBR, USA

2019 World Championships: CHN, POL, NED, GER, NZL, GBR

 Closest medal race: Just .03 seconds separated the Dutch and the Polish at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. These two crews have been amongst the medal winners for the entire Olympic cycle and now they are going stroke for stroke into the Olympic year.

Must watch: The 2019 World Rowing Championships A-final really is a show-stopper. The margins were razor-thin and Chinese upset of the two front-runners was thrilling. Watch the race here: https://www.eurovisionsports.tv/fisa#A8NV5NXZTC

 Historical tidbit: Looking back two Olympic cycles, in 2012, Ukraine dominated much of the season ahead of Germany. They went on to prove this standing at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. This type of dominance in the women’s quadruple sculls has been absent in the last quadrennial. You can re-watch the full race here: https://www.olympic.org/videos/women-s-quadruple-sculls-final-full-replay

Quote of the quadrennial: “It was pure euphoria when I saw that we came second on the screen! I don’t like to make predictions but let me say that I am confident about the Olympic Games. Our crew puts on crazy socks because sometimes our boat can be a bit crazy.” Agnieszka Kobus Zawojska, Poland, 2019 World Rowing Championships, Silver

Olympic qualifiers: Eight teams qualified from the 2019 World Rowing Championships: China, Poland, Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Great Britain, United States of America, Italy. Two more crews are set to qualify at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta.

The ramification of the ‘extra year’: China is again the wildcard in this boat class. The extra year will certainly give both Poland and the Netherlands time to recover from injuries and solidify line-ups. Yet this may put a strain on the rowers from both countries. If the 2020 European Rowing Championships was anything of an indication, the Dutch have a slight advantage over the Polish, but it tells little about the preparations of the speedy Chinese crew.

Olympic prediction: In 2019, we predicted that it was looking like China for the gold medal at the Olympic Games. But will they be flexible enough to deal with an extra year of training? And does this additional time give the Polish and the Dutch room to catch up? Or is the disciplined Chinese training better suited to an extra year of preparation? In any case, these three crews are all likely to be in contention for medal places. And don’t count out the Germans. They have had inconsistent results, but have extremely talented young rowers who could help them pick up speed.