Racing for the 2023 World Championships begins on Sunday, September 3, in Belgrade, Serbia. Below, we preview the women's eight event.
ENTRIES - 8
2020 Olympic Champion – Canada
2022 World Champion – Romania
RACICE 2022 RECAP
Romania was the fastest crew to 500m, but it was very tight with three crews--Canada, Netherland, and USA--all within a second of the lead. Romania continued to extend their lead, pushing out a length over the Canadians and Dutch by the 1250. The Dutch crew sprinted through Canada, but it was not enough to catch the Romanians who took the gold, with Netherlands second, Canada 3rd, and the United States in fourth.
Watch the final from Racice here.
2023 SEASON RECAP
There was limited racing in the women's eight this season, with only Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and Romania fielding entries in the World Cups. Italy and Germany also raced at Europeans, but were well off the pace. Order of finish at World Cup II was AUS, GBR, CAN; at World Cup III, order was GBR, CAN, AUS, ROU. Thus, Great Britain probably had the best season so far, but they didn't field an eight in 2022. The Dutch eight won silver in 2022, but they are not racing in Belgrade.
USA PROSPECTS
The United States debuts a brand new women's eight in Belgrade, with the middle four from last year (Charlotte Buck, Regina Salmons, Alina Hagstrom, and Jessica Thoennes) returning from the crew that finished fourth in Racice. Joining them are Emily Froehlich, Margaret Hedeman, Brooke Mooney, Mary Mazzio-Manson, and coxswain Nina Castagna. Mooney, a Tokyo Olympian in the eight, returns after being an alternate in 2022. The rest of the crew will be making their senior team debuts, with Mazzio-Manson, Hedeman, and Froehlich all having medaled at the U23 level since 2017. With eight entries and five qualification spots for the Paris Olympics, the USA women's eight should qualify for the A final and be a contender for the podium.
MEDAL PICKS
With little to go in regards to 2023 results, this one should be wide open for the podium and the five Olympic qualification spots. Best guess is this group of five crews--Great Britain, United States, Canada, Australia, and Romania--will be the likely medalists but really anything is possible. Of note, there is a fair amount of doubling up in this event. The GBR W2-, ITA W4-, ROU W2-, and ROU W4- are all racing in their respective eights.
GOLD – CANADA
SILVER – UNITED STATES
BRONZE - GREAT BRITAIN
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