Rowing WR Final World Olympic Qualification Regatta 2024

[Makedonas 2,239]

1 minute ago, copravolley said:

The reserve rower replaced the starter in Tokyo itself due to a case of Covid:

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowing_at_the_2020_Summer_Olympics_–_Men's_coxless_four

 

 

I used to think that it was about too little money that the Italian Olympic Committee invests in rowing and that is why it is more profitable for some athletes to go to study in the USA and work there, instead of continuing their sports career in Italy. In the UK or the Netherlands, I haven't heard of any cases where someone went to study during the four-year period between the Games, or maybe I'm wrong? What's more, when I look at the Romanian team led by Italian coaches, I see greater stability and continuity in the squads there than in our country. In addition, Romania trains most of the time in Italy. I don't know what the problem is, but the frequent departures to study in the USA - mainly women - and the constant injuries are strange. Perhaps we should follow the example of Romania, which is not as rich a country as the UK, the Netherlands or Germany, but has great results in rowing. Perhaps we should bring those coaches back to Italy and let them build such a system here? But it definitely involves more money.

A lot of the Greek rowers have said they stopped or thought of stopping because in rowing they can't make money, and also sometimes they were in a boat with another rower who stopped and then they couldn't find another partner so they stopped too.

 

We also have mostly women who study in the US but now there are a few male Greek rowers who started doing it too. The thing is a lot of these women go and say they want to return to the national team when they graduate, and then they never end up coming back. Or they compete in U23 regattas during the summer, sometimes with success, and sometimes with shockingly poor results (because they probably don't train as much in the US when they are at their universities as they did when they were with the national team full-time).

 

Another issue is that the federation (with our controversial Italian coach) requires the athletes to spend most of the year at the Olympic rowing centre, which is near Athens but in a very isolated area, and most of our rowers are from northern Greece, so they are sent away from their families, usually when they are still in high school even, and they are on a strict training schedule and have no time to study or do anything else in their lives.

 

Stefanos Ntouskos actually said before Tokyo that he would retire if he didn't win a medal, and go to university to become a doctor, as he was already 24 yo and had no income or education, and then he won Olympic gold and got some sponsors so he continued.

 

Also another problem that we have, and maybe Italy has too, is that a lot of our young rowers who do well are not very tall like some of the Romanians are, so the good results at young ages can be misleading, but obviously we have some athletes who were originally lightweight rowers like Ntouskos and now Evangelia Anastasiadou who have proven that you don't have to be 190cm to have a good career in the open categories. Of course there are also many exceptions where we had tall rowers with good results at young ages who also vanished for various reasons.

[copravolley 564]

18 minutes ago, Makedonas said:

I was also just saying in our national club, our girls dominated the U19 World Championships in 2022, we won gold in W1X, W2-, W2X, and now you are telling me we can't even find girls to try to qualify for a W2X?!

 

None of those five golden girls will be in Paris...

 

One of them is studying in the USA where she competes on the rowing team, another is going to USA after the summer to do the same, another has been training with our national team but wasn't selected for Lucerne (I imagine we will see her on the U23 national team this summer at least), and the other two have not rowed in over a year either for our national team or their clubs. It's such a shame how we are constantly losing these talented young rowers.

 

Also the Greek Rowing Championships start tomorrow and finish on Sunday, I am not sure why they thought to organise it this weekend when it is so close to the Olympic qualification regatta, hopefully some of our athletes won't be too tired when they go to Lucerne...

Unfortunately in LW2x there will be a massacre in Lucerne. There will be only 2 free places and 3 very strong crews from Europe: ITA, FRA, GRE + 1 strong AUS. Each of these crews can win a medal in Paris if they get there. However, due to stupid regulations weak Austria is already in Paris, becouse they got there through a poorly continental tournament. And in 2028 there will be no light weight anymore, only beach rowing  

Edited May 9, 2024 by copravolley

[Makedonas 2,239]

1 minute ago, copravolley said:

Unfortunately in LW2x there will be a massacre in Lucerne. There will be only 2 free places and 3 very strong crews from Europe: ITA, FRA, GRE + 1 strong AUS. Each of these crews can win a medal in Paris if they get there. However, due to stupid regulations weak Austria is already in Paris, becouse they got there through a poorly continental tournament. And in 2028 there will be no light weight anymore, only beach rowing  

Yeah, there are 16 quotas in the LW2X but so many weak crews in there. I know some people will disagree because they think having diversity at the Olympics is more important than having the best teams qualify but it seems like Greece always ends up getting screwed by these qualification procedures 

 

For our girls, Fitsiou was actually competing in coastal rowing with much success and then switched to LW2X during the pandemic to try and qualify for Tokyo. She is already 28 yo so I imagine she will try to switch back to coastal rowing for 2028, but Kontou is only 18 yo so she has more of a future in rowing and also taller than Fitsiou (I think Kontou is about 170cm and Fitsiou about 165cm), so I expect Kontou will switch to an open category for 2028.

[copravolley 564]

8 minutes ago, Makedonas said:

Yeah, there are 16 quotas in the LW2X but so many weak crews in there. I know some people will disagree because they think having diversity at the Olympics is more important than having the best teams qualify but it seems like Greece always ends up getting screwed by these qualification procedures 

 

For our girls, Fitsiou was actually competing in coastal rowing with much success and then switched to LW2X during the pandemic to try and qualify for Tokyo. She is already 28 yo so I imagine she will try to switch back to coastal rowing for 2028, but Kontou is only 18 yo so she has more of a future in rowing and also taller than Fitsiou (I think Kontou is about 170cm and Fitsiou about 165cm), so I expect Kontou will switch to an open category for 2028.

Rodini and Cesarini are also quite short and slim but they won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in the women's lightweight category. Unfortunately, they have had a constant problem with injuries since Tokyo, especially Cesarini. They missed many training sessions on last 3 years, so our staff started trying other variants, e.g. Rodini-Crosio or Crosio-Buttignon. At the European Championships the bronze was won by Rodini-Crosio but in Lucerna there will be a return to the golden team from Tokyo: Rodini-Cesarini. If they are healthy and in good shape, I hope to advance but beating Greece or France will be very difficult. A lot will depend on the track conditions: both of us don't like the wind in our faces. France has not started this year yet but it is an experienced team (Tarantola- Bove: silver medalists in Tokio) and will certainly will bet difficult conditions.

Edited May 9, 2024 by copravolley

[Rafa Maciel 1,671]

Thoughts on Lightweight Classes:

 

Men's Lightweight Double:             - This is a fairly open class in my opinion and whilst I would love to see Hong Kong getting another rowing quota, it's not going to happen in this class. Likewise, I think we can discount Indonesia and Brazil.

 

I'm also tempted to eliminate USA - they had a terrible World Champs last year, when they ended up in the D-Final, but they have changed their crew and although we haven't seen them in action yet, they will be looking to finish higher up the field this time. We also haven't seen the crews from France, China, Greece or Poland yet this year, further complicating the prediction. 

 

With no New Zealand in the field, Germany are the highest placed finishers from last year's World Champs but their result there was impacted by the fact they capsized in the semifinal. In 2024, they haven't shown great form - in Varese, they were the second placed German crew finishing 6th overall. France had high hopes after showing excellent form in 2023 - winning World Cup III (beating Olympic Champions Ireland in the process) and taking second place in World Cup II. Unfortunately, they couldn't keep that form through the World Champs where they eventually withdrew ahead of their C/D Semifinal. 

 

Long story short, the quotas here could go to any of 4 or 5 nations, but I'll stick my neck out and say that  will book their ticket alongside  but I wouldn't be surprised if either Germany or Poland upset that prediction.

 

 

Women's Lightweight Double:         - Can't help thinking that the best chance for Indonesia or Uzbekistan to qualify for the Olympics was through the Asian qualifier last month but in the end, they were well beaten by Japan and Iran. I don't expect them to figure in the mix for quota this time around. Likewise, I don't think it's likely we will see Spain or Switzerland getting a quota - Switzerland have finished 6th in both of their events this year whilst Spain came last in the B-Final at Varese. 

 

That leaves four crews fighting for two quotas. The Australian pairing got the nod to compete after their 4th place finish at the World Cup in Varese - where they were just under a second behind the Italian pair. France will be competing for the first time since they finished 11th at the World Champs. Greece took the silver medal at the Europeans and beat the Italians in the process - but worth bearing in mind that it was a different Italian crew so doesn't mean a huge amount. 

 

It's mad to think we've got the gold and silver medalists from Tokyo having to go through the last chance regatta, but I think it is a pretty safe call to say that  should get a quota and have a chance to defend their title. I'm less confident saying France will get a spot and at the moment I think that  might sneak it. 

[Rafa Maciel 1,671]

Last up, the Sculling crews... apologies in advance for what could be a rambling post.

 

Men's Single: Given the size of the field, I won't list all of the nations. 

 

The draw is going to be all important here and it will be critical to avoid having to go in the repechage. At last year's World Champs, none of the single scullers who had to go through the repechage were able to progress any further than the quarterfinals. This result was repeated at the recent Europeans, where again, the crews who had to go through the repechage weren't able to raise their performance in the next round, and all missed out on the A-Final. 

 

Based on the performances at the Europeans,  are pretty well placed to secure one of the quotas and I would love to see  take the other but I do have doubts about the GB sculler's (George Bourne) ability to maintain his form through the competition - he ran out of steam at the Europeans after he had to sprint to make the final.  

 

 

Men's Double:               - Given the size of the field I wont go through all the crews. Although Moldova just missed out on qualifying last year, I don't think this will be their regatta. Instead, I think  will start as the favourite. They have stuck with the same crew from last year's world champs and should be able to secure the first quota.

 

The conditions at the Europeans weren't ideal and may have impacted some of the results making it difficult to evaluate current form. So, a lot is going to come down to the draw. The heat winners will have the benefit of not having to race the repechage on the afternoon of day 1. The results at the Europeans would suggest that Greece should get the second quota but I think  could spring a surprise.

 

Men's Quad:           - Norway and Spain are unlikely to figure in the battle for quotas and I think the competition will be too strong for Czechia. New Zealand and France are both new crews and could spring a surprise but will have their work cut out for them against more established crews.

 

USA are sticking with the same crew from last year, but they will need to have made significant steps forward if they are going to challenge for a quota. Ultimately, I think they will come up short. 

 

 will likely start as favourites - they just missed out on automatic qualification at the World Champs last year and finished 6th at the recent Europeans - and I think they have shown the consistency that will take them to a quota. The second will probably be a fight between Australia and Ukraine. Australia were 5th in Varese whilst Ukraine were down in 8th and they weren't able to show any real improvement at the Europeans so at the moment, I would suggest that  will edge it. 

 

Women's Single:                - As with the men's single, the quotas could go anywhere. Czechia were the highest placed finisher at the recent Europeans but Switzerland won the B-Final in a quicker time. 

 

As above, the draw is going to be hugely important - as with the men, at last year's world champs, none of the repechage rowers were able to progress beyond the quarterfinals - so whoever wins the 3 heats and progresses straight to the semifinals is going to have a huge advantage as they'll avoid the afternoon repechage. Worth bearing in mind that the repechages will start only 3 hours after the heats finish - that's not a huge amount of time to recover. 

 

If I was pushed to make an early prediction, I'd be tempted to go with  and perhaps 

 

Women's Double:        - It's all change for these crews - looks like every nation has made changes to their crews compared to who they fielded at the World Champs last year with the exception South Africa making it difficult to predict performance.

 

GB are a new crew for 2024 with Hodgkins-Byrne back from maternity break being joined by new name Becky Wilde. They've only raced once this year - the European Champs - where they won the B-Final, but they were beaten by both Czechia and Switzerland. It may be that they weren't able to adjust to the cross-wind conditions as well as the other crews or that they simply need more time to gel as a crew. 

 

Czechia will be keen to avoid another Boat Underweight relegation. Despite that, they were able to fight their way to the A-Final of the Europeans and finished ahead of Switzerland.

 

Switzerland should be able to make it to the final, but they haven't shown the consistency that would put them in the frame for a quota. 

 

My heart wants me to say that GB will get a quota, but I haven't seen enough of them to be able to say they are on a path to winning a spot in Paris so I think instead, I'd opt for  and  taking the quotas.

 

Women's Quad:       - To my mind,  should start as favourites for the first quota as they are the most consistent crew in the field. They were the first non-qualifier at last year's worlds and are coming off a silver medal at the Europeans. 

 

Both Canada and the USA have made a couple of changes to the crews that competed at last year's world champs when they both ended up in the B Final and the Poland crew is another new setup for 2024. Having not seen any of them racing in 2024 it's difficult to gauge what impact that will have New Zealand is a new crew for 2024 but they are up against some pretty formidable crews so if they want to make an impact, they will need to hit the ground running - or should that be hit the water rowing? Either way, I don't see them booking a spot in Paris. 

 

I think the second quota could well go to  - they showed good form at the Europeans where they finished 4th and were just behind the German boat. The motivation to row at a home Olympics could well give them the extra turn of speed to be able to hold off their North American rivals. 

[rybak 3,330]

 will not win any quota at these final qualifications @Rafa Maciel, they all are in poor form, some rowers retired due to poor situation in federation and low budget.

[Makedonas 2,239]

6 hours ago, Rafa Maciel said:

Thoughts on Lightweight Classes:

 

Men's Lightweight Double:             - This is a fairly open class in my opinion and whilst I would love to see Hong Kong getting another rowing quota, it's not going to happen in this class. Likewise, I think we can discount Indonesia and Brazil.

 

I'm also tempted to eliminate USA - they had a terrible World Champs last year, when they ended up in the D-Final, but they have changed their crew and although we haven't seen them in action yet, they will be looking to finish higher up the field this time. We also haven't seen the crews from France, China, Greece or Poland yet this year, further complicating the prediction. 

 

I'm not sure why our guys weren't at the European Championships, but they were at the Piediluco regatta in late March and did well in my opinion, though it's tough to judge because the only crews already qualified for Paris that were there were Italy and Belgium.

 

We got silver both days. On Day 1, Italy had 6:44.13, Greece had 6:44.74, and Belgium got 6:51.04. On Day 2, Italy had 6:47.04, Greece had 6:48.36, and Belgium did not compete. So going by these results, our guys should be in good form, but who knows, maybe one of them got injured and that's why we didn't go to the Europeans? Or they just wanted to use that time for extra training for Lucerne?

[Makedonas 2,239]

1 hour ago, Rafa Maciel said:

Men's Double:               - Given the size of the field I wont go through all the crews. Although Moldova just missed out on qualifying last year, I don't think this will be their regatta. Instead, I think  will start as the favourite. They have stuck with the same crew from last year's world champs and should be able to secure the first quota.

 

The conditions at the Europeans weren't ideal and may have impacted some of the results making it difficult to evaluate current form. So, a lot is going to come down to the draw. The heat winners will have the benefit of not having to race the repechage on the afternoon of day 1. The results at the Europeans would suggest that Greece should get the second quota but I think  could spring a surprise.

FWIW  finished 2nd in Piediluco (behind ) with a time of 6:40.38, and  finished 3rd with a time of 6:40.86, so the margins are very very thin. Of course we had two races with them at the Europeans and finished above them easily (by 16+ seconds in the heat and nearly 6 seconds in SF) but anything is possible.

 

We were also a brand new crew in Piediluco and now they had some time together, Cholopoulos is also just 17 yo (take a shot every time I mention his age and Kontou's age between now and Lucerne and possibly Paris if they qualify ).

[Makedonas 2,239]

On 5/8/2024 at 8:04 PM, Makedonas said:

Also the Greek Rowing Championships start tomorrow and finish on Sunday, I am not sure why they thought to organise it this weekend when it is so close to the Olympic qualification regatta, hopefully some of our athletes won't be too tired when they go to Lucerne...

So far no one who is going to Lucerne is competing there, and even though some boat classes didn't race yet I'd say it's probably unlikely that we'll see any of them at the national championships at this point.

 

Of course it's the correct decision for them to not tire themselves out before the qualification regatta but I really wonder who made the decision to have the national championships this week. Maybe they were afraid of someone who wasn't selected for the Olympic team beating one of the national team members (A.Kyridou for example would probably embarrass anyone else in single sculls ).