BELGRADE, Serbia - The first stage of the 2012 Samsung World Rowing Cup series is set to begin May 3 in Belgrade, Serbia. A total of 662 rowers from 43 nations will compete in 21 events over the four-day event in Olympic, international and Paralympic boat classes.
The men's single sculls event boasts the largest number of entries with 27 boats lining up. New Fairfield, Conn. native Ken Jurkowski will be among some of the top scullers in the world including Czech Republic's Ondrej Synek, Norway's Olaf Tufte, Sweden's Lassi Karonen and Great Britain's Alan Campbell.
Jurkowski won the first National Section Regatta and will look to finish among the top four in order to win an automatic berth to the 2012 Olympic Games. Jurkowski finished 11th at the 2011 World Rowing Championships.
The U.S. will field two entries in the women's pair. Beijing gold medalists and National Selection Regatta I winners Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) and Erin Cafaro (Modesto, Calif.) will race for a top-four finish, which would automatically qualify them for a berth to the Olympic team. Also looking to test its speed is the crew of Taylor Ritzel (Larkspur, Colo.) and Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.). The pair finished second in the event at NSR I.
Fresh off its win at National Selection Regatta II, the lightweight women's double sculls crew of Julie Nichols (Livermore, Calif.) and Kristin Hedstrom (Concord, Mass.) will also look for a top-four finish in order to qualify for London. Hedstrom and Nichols were the overall World Cup champions in the event in 2011 and finished just shy of the podium at the 2011 World Rowing Championships.
Representing the U.S. in the women's quadruple sculls is Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.), Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif.), Kady Glessner (Seattle, Wash.) and Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.). The boat qualified for the Olympic Games at last year's world championships with a silver-medal finish, and will seek to measure itself against the competition in the lead up to London. Carle is the lone returning member of that crew. Bertko raced in the women's double, while Glessner joins the lineup from the women's pair and Kohler from the gold-medal women's four.
The format of the Samsung World Rowing Cup series remains unchanged. As has been the custom since the inauguration in year 1997, an event leader will be determined in each boat class at each of the three stages of the series. The leader will be awarded the yellow leader bib and will carry the leader status forward to the next regatta. The 2012 overall series winner will be awarded at the end of the final stage of the Samsung World Rowing Cup in Munich, Germany.
The regatta doubles as the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta. Racing commences for adaptive rowers on May 3 with heats in the four adaptive rowing events. The top two boats in each of the four events qualify for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
Two U.S. crews are vying for 2012 Paralympic Team berths including arms and shoulders women's single sculls Dana Fink (Atlanta, Ga.) and the trunk and arms mixed double sculls duo of Rob Jones (Lovettsville, Va.) and Oksana Masters (Buffalo, N.Y.). A top-two finish in each event qualifies those athletes to the U.S. Paralympic team.
Click here for provisional competition schedule. For more information, visit www.worldrowing.com. During the regatta, race reports, live results and a dedicated photo gallery will be provided by World Rowing. The finals of each World Cup event will be video streamed live on Sunday, May 6 beginning at 4:43 a.m. EST. For direct links to the video streaming platforms, visit www.worldrowing.com/video.