Racing for the 2017 World Championships begins on Sunday, September 24, in Sarasota, Florida. Below, we preview the M8+ and W8+ events. Check out our additional previews of the single sculls, pair, double sculls, four, and quad sculls events.
THE FAVORITE – Germany are the prohibitive favorite for the eight. In 2017, they are unbeaten, winning the European Championship, World Cup II, and World Cup III. At World Cup II in Poznan, they set a new World's Best Time at 5:18.68.
MEDAL CONTENDERS – Behind Germany, things start to get murky, quickly. The Australians prioritized the eight in Lucerne and raced the Germans nearly stroke for stroke down the course (video here). However for Worlds, Australia has pulled their top four out to race in the M4- event. They should still be in the hunt for a medal, however.
The Dutch have a strong and experienced crew, and won the bronze at both the European Championships and World Cup III. The British are the defending World and Olympic champions, but have a relatively inexperienced crew, with only one returner from 2016.
Three additional crews have shown good speed in 2017 and could be in the mix in the final. The Kiwis finished second in Poznan, Romania finished fourth in Lucerne, and Poland is experienced and always in the mix.
USA PROSPECTS – The American men's eight is one of the biggest unknowns heading into the regatta. They are the priority crew for the USA sweep team for the first time since 2008, but have a fairly young and completely untested boat. Read more on the USA M8+ here.
2016 OLYMPICS – Great Britain capped off a quadrennial sweep of the men's eight at the World/Olympic regattas by defeating Germany by nearly half a length. The Netherlands took the bronze ahead of the United States.
THE FAVORITE – This year, Romania looked very strong at World Cup III, and defeated New Zealand and Great Britain for the gold. Laura Oprea (stroke) and Madalina Beres (5-seat) are doubling up in the pair. But Romania have yet to race the United States, who have won eleven straight World and Olympic titles in the event.
MEDAL CONTENDERS – New Zealand has had a solid 2017 campaign, winning in Poznan and finishing second in Lucerne. Just behind them at both regattas have been the British. Both crews will be fighting for a spot on the podium.
Canada has consistently been in the medals over the past decade and 2017 should be no different. They are bringing a strong and experienced crew to Sarasota, but have yet to race the eight in international competition this year. They also have four of their crew racing in the W4- event as well, so they will have a busy week of racing ahead of them. Then there are the Americans.
USA PROSPECTS – The USA go for number twelve in a row, however in their only appearance this year, they finished third to New Zealand and Great Britain at World Cup II. While that is not an insignificant result, the crew that will be racing in Sarasota is a different crew, with five new rowers winning seats for the World Championships, including Olympic champion Lauren Schmetterling. Read more on the USA W8+ here.
2016 OLYMPICS – The Americans took control of a tight race in the second thousand to win by nearly a length over Great Britain. Romania sprinted through Canada and New Zealand to take the bronze.
Comments | Log in to comment |
There are no Comments yet
|
row2k's Worlds coverage is brought to you in part by:
row2k's Worlds coverage is brought to you in part by: