World Rowing Cup II – The Complete Preview

By Rupert Guinness with the Australian Rowing Team in Europe

The Australian Rowing Team (ART) will get a crucial gauge of form for its Olympic and Paralympic Games preparation when it races 13 boats in World Cup II at Lucerne, Switzerland, from Friday to Sunday.

The team has qualified nine boats for the Olympic Games and three in the Paralympic Games in Paris. Against a crack international field, World Cup II will provide the ART with a clear idea of where its crews stand against the best in the world, and where they must improve.

Rowing Australia High Performance Director Paul Thompson has cast his eye over the progress of each Australian boat and crew that will be racing, providing an insight what we might be able to expect from them in the coming days.

WOMEN’S SQUAD

Women’s Pair

Crew #1: Jessica Morrison OAM, Annabelle McIntyre OAM

Coach: John Keogh (Women’s Head Coach).

Paul Thompson: “I'm so excited to see how this Pair will go. They won all but one race last year – the World Championships, where they took Silver. They are fast. Last year they rowed an unofficial world's best time (6:47.11 at Holland Beker Regatta in Amsterdam). They are coming into a full-strength field this year; and we know how strong they are and how well they work with their coach John Keogh assisted by Hally Chapman.”

Crew #2: Olympia Aldersey, Lily Alton Triggs

Coach: Hally Chapman

Paul Thompson: “They were in the Eight last year. They are mentally so good, and experienced athletes who can go fast as a pair. It's great to have such world class athletes in the World Cup team as Spares backing up the selected boats.”

Women’s Four

Crew: Eliza Gaffney, Jean Mitchell, Jacqueline Swick, Molly Goodman

Coach: Tom Westgarth

Paul Thompson: “A new look women's Four … it will be exciting to see how far they go. We've got Eliza and Jean back into the Australian team through some great domestic performances. And we have the experience of Molly, and ‘Jackie’ is a great talent. There's no reason why this Four can't do really well with Tom guiding it.”

Women’s Coxed Eight

Crew: Katrina Werry, Lucy Stephan OAM, Samantha Morton, Georgina Rowe, Sarah Hawe, Georgia Patten, Bronwyn Cox, Paige Barr, Hayley Verbunt (coxswain)

Coach: John Keogh, Hally Chapman

Paul Thompson: “You can just see the quality of their rhythm and the quality of their rowing when they get it right. The Eight, World Championship Bronze Medallists last year, is looking really strong. There is some fabulous experience and physicality in the boat to really take the race on. This will be a really exciting boat to follow through its journey to Paris.”

Women’s Single Scull

Sculler: Tara Rigney

Coach: Ellen Randell

Paul Thompson: “Tara is Tara … every time she gets out on the water in a Single Scull she produces a great performance. She has such wonderful feel and determination. A World Championship Bronze Medallist in 2022 and last year, she is a really classy athlete, and she is all class in an already really strong field. It’s tough but so is Tara.”

Women’s Double Scull

Crew: Amanda Bateman, Harriet Hudson

Coach: Ellen Randell

Paul Thompson: “This crew has matched up really well and shown they have some fabulous speed under Ellen’s watchful eye. The World Champion Romanians are not here, but they were beaten in the European Championships by winners Norway and Lithuania. So, it’s quite open. Amanda and Harriet have got the capability to really step into that space.”

Women’s Quad Scull

Crew: Rowena Meredith, Caitlin Cronin, Laura Gourley, Kathryn Rowan

Coach: Tom Westgarth

Paul Thompson: “We've got a strong core of 2021 Olympic Bronze Medallists in this Quad Scull with Rowena and Caitlin who were in the boat last year as was Kathryn, then coming into the boat we have Laura. Let's see how they go. There's no reason why they can't be very competitive.”

MEN’S SQUAD

Men’s Coxed Eight

Crew: Ben Canham, Josh Hicks, Spencer Turrin OAM, Alexander Purnell OAM, Jack Hargreaves OAM, Jack O’Brien, Angus Dawson, Angus Widdicombe, Kendall Brodie (Coxswain),

Coach: Mark Prater.

Paul Thompson: “Our Eight is a very good crew and move well together with consistent medal performances over this Olympiad, including a World Cup win in Lucerne last year. This is the Eight’s first international test against the best since last year’s World Championships where they won the Bronze Medal. We should be confident in the preparation that coach Mark Prater has given them. They've all got pedigree and are really experienced racers with a good feel for the boat.”

Men’s Coxless Four

Crew: Tim Masters, Fergus Hamilton, Jack Robertson, Alex Hill OAM

Coach: Lyall McCarthy

Paul Thompson: “This is another really exciting boat with Alex Hill from the 2021 Olympic Gold Medal winning Four offering great insights, Jack and Tim from last year’s medal winning Eight and ‘Ferg’ coming in from the Pair. They’re evolving very well as a crew under the enthusiastic eye of Lyall McCarthy. They have worked hard to be all on the same page. There is really something exciting about them.”

Men’s Coxless Pair 

Crew #1: Patrick Holt, Simon Keenan

Coach: Rhett Ayliffe

Paul Thompson: “Simon and Patty are a pretty handy crew. They are matched up well, get on well together and are keen to learn and explore their speed. Simon is starting to row with some real rhythm, which is great and Patty is enabling him to do that. They are very strong athletes and a strong crew.”

Crew #2: Rohan Lavery, Jackson Kench

Coach: Rhett Ayliffe

Paul Thompson: “Rohan and Jackson have been in the Eight over the years and are World Championship medallists. They've done a fabulous job as Spares. They are a couple of really talented athletes. So, there is no reason why they can't be hunting down some big crews as well.”

PARA ROWING SQUAD

Men’s PR1 Single Scull

Crew: Erik Horrie OAM

Coach: Chad King

Paul Thompson: “It's great that Lucerne is putting on Para events. It’s a fabulous opportunity that Erik, a five-times World Champion and three-time Paralympic medallist, can race here on the ‘Lake of the Gods’. We know he's worked really hard. He had an unfortunate injury at the World Championships last year and is keen to show his form. He's one of the most experienced Para rowers in the world. He knows how to race. It will be great to see him put that together.”

PR3 Men’s Pair

Crew: Nicholas Bartlett, Tobiah Goffsassen

Coaches: Chad King

Paul Thompson: “The PR3 Men's Pair entry is part of the classification process for Nicholas. So, we've got Toby and Nick racing a Ukrainian crew. This will be their first international race and World Cup. I'm really looking forward to seeing how well they do.”

WHAT’S UP FOR AUSTRALIA – World Cup II Day 1: Friday

9.20AM (5.20PM AEST) – PR1 Men’s Single Scull Heat 1: Erik Horrie – First two to the A-Final. The rest to the repechage

10.22AM (6.22PM AEST) – Women’s Coxless Pair Heat 2: (AUS2) Olympia Aldersey, Lily Alton Triggs – First three to the A/B Semi-Final. The rest to the repechage.

10.27AM (6.27PM AEST) – Women’s Coxless Pair Heat 3: (AUS1) Annabelle McIntyre OAM, Jessica Morrison OAM – First three to the A/B Semi-Final. The rest to the repechage.

10.32AM (6.32PM AEST) – Men’s Coxless Pair Heat 1: (AUS 1) Patty Holt, Simon Keenan – First two to the A/B Semi-Final. The rest to the repechage.

10.42AM (6.42PM AEST) – Men’s Coxless Pair Heat 3: (AUS 2) Jackson Kench, Rohan Lavery – First two to the A/B Semi-Final. The rest to the repechage.

11.07AM (7.07PM AEST) – Women’s Double Scull Heat 3: Harriet Hudson, Amanda Bateman – First three to the A/B Semi-Final. The rest to the repechage.

11.22AM (7.22PM AEST) – Women’s Coxless Four Heat 1: Eliza Gaffney, Jean Mitchell, Jacqueline Swick, Molly Goodman – First to the Final. The rest to the repechage.

11.37AM (7.37PM AEST) – Men’s Coxless Four Heat 2: Tim Masters, Fergus Hamilton, Jack Robertson, Alex Hill – First two to the A Final. The rest to the repechage.

11.52AM (7.52PM AEST) – Women’s Single Scull Heat 3: Tara Rigney – First two to the A/B Semi-Final. The rest to the repechage.

12.54PM (8.54PM AEST) – Women’s Quad Scull Preliminary race: Rowena Meredith, Caitlin Cronin, Laura Gourley, Kathryn Rowan – First to the A/B Final. The rest to the repechage.

16.32PM (12.32AM AEST) – PR3 M2- Preliminary race: Nicholas Bartlett, Tobiah Goffsassen – All to the Final.

16.44PM (12.44AM AEST) – Women’s Coxed Eight Preliminary race: Katrina Werry, Lucy Stephan OAM, Samantha Morton, Georgina Rowe, Sarah Hawe, Georgia Patten, Bronwyn Cox, Paige Barr, Hayley Verbunt (coxswain) – All to the Final

16.49PM (12.49AM AEST) – Men’s Coxed Eight Preliminary race: Ben Canham, Josh Hicks, Spencer Turrin OAM, Alexander Purnell OAM, Jack Hargreaves OAM, Jack O’Brien, Angus Widdicombe, Kendall Brodie (coxswain) – All to the Final.

How to Follow the 2024 World Rowing Cup II:

This year the 2024 World Rowing Cup II will be taking place in Lucerne, Switzerland from 24-26 May 2024.

A total of 234 crews from 43 nations will compete in 23 boat classes, in the hopes of earning points that will contribute to their countries overall standing in the series.

The first races will start on 24 May at 9:00 CET. The international medal races start on May 25 at 12:20, and the World Rowing Cup medal races start on Sunday, May 26 at 10:05.

Here is how to follow the event on mobile, tablet, or desktop:

1. The provisional time table for the events can be found here and entries for all the events can be found here.
2. Live race tracker and LIVE audio will be available for ALL races on www.worldrowing.com.
3. LIVE video streaming will be available on the World Rowing website on Sunday, May 26 from 10:00 for all World Rowing Cup boat class A-Finals. The video streaming will start 5 minutes before the first race.