Racing for the 2020 Olympic Regatta begins on Friday, July 23, in Tokyo, Japan. Below, we preview the men's four.
2019 WORLD CHAMPION - Wilangowski/Burda/Brzezinski/Szpakowski - POL
2016 OLYMPIC CHAMPION - Gregory/Sbihi/Nash/Louloudis - GBR
2020 SCHEDULE
Heats on Saturday, Rep on Monday, Finals on Wednesday
ENTRIES - 10
AUSTRALIA - Alexander Purnell | Spencer Turrin | Jack Hargreaves | Alexander Hill
CANADA - Jakub Buczek | Luke Gadsdon | Gavin Stone | Will Crothers
GREAT BRITAIN - Oliver Cook | Matthew Rossiter | Rory Gibbs | Sholto Carnegie
ITALY - Matteo Castaldo | Bruno Rosetti | Matteo Lodo | Giuseppe Vicino
NETHERLANDS - Jan van der Bij | Boudewijn Roell | Sander de Graaf | Nelson Ritsema
POLAND - Mateusz Wilangowski | Mikolaj Burda | Marcin Brzezinski | Michal Szpakowski
ROMANIA - Mihaita-Vasile Tiganescu | Mugurel Vasile Semciuc | Stefan-Constantin Berariu | Cosmin Pascari
SOUTH AFRICA - Lawrence Brittain | Kyle Schoonbee | John Smith | Sandro Paulo Torrente
SWITZERLAND - Markus Kessler | Paul Jacquot | Joel Schuerch | Andrin Gulich
UNITED STATES - Andrew Reed | Anders Weiss | Michael Grady | Clark Dean
LINZ 2019 RECAP
The young Romanian four got out fast out of the blocks, but it was the Polish crew that was first to the 500 meter mark, with Great Britain a half length back and ahead of both Italy and Romania. Poland continued to extend their lead in the second quarter and at the 1k, had a one length lead over Italy and Great Britain. Coming into the last 500, the British had made their move to close the gap on Poland, and took a half length lead on Italy and Romania. Poland continued to lead and held off sprints from Romania and Great Britain to win by a half length. Romania was able to sprint through the British four to take the gold and Italy held off a hard charging USA to finish in fourth. Poland's win, along Australia finishing sixth, was the surprise of the regatta.
Watch the final here.
2021 SEASON RECAP
WORLD CUP I
France got the win in Zagreb but are not qualified for Tokyo. Poland finished second by a half length, with Croatia in third and Switzerland fourth. Only Poland and Switzerland are qualified.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Great Britain raced to a one length win over the Romanians, with Italy a close third in their 2019 lineup. The Netherlands finished in a close fourth ahead of the Poles.
FOQR
The two qualification spots for Tokyo were won by South Africa and Canada.
WORLD CUP II
The British four got out to a quick lead in Lucerne and won going away, defeating South Africa by nearly five seconds for the gold. Romania took the bronze ahead of Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland. The Italians have since prioritized their four by putting their top pair in.
WORLD CUP III
Only two Tokyo qualified crews raced in Sabaudia, with the new Italian lineup taking the win over Poland by nearly four seconds.
USA PROSPECTS
The Tokyo Olympic USA men's four returns half of its crew from 2019, Clark Dean and Andrew Reed. Dean, at just 21 years old, had a prolific junior career, winning back to back world championships in the men's single. Reed raced in the USA men's eight in 2017 and 2018, finishing second and fourth respectably.
The two new additions to the four are Anders Weiss and Michael Grady. Weiss has done well in the small boats, racing in the USA men's pair in the Rio Olympics, then again in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Weiss also won a silver medal as part of the 2013 USA U23 men's eight. Then Grady will be making his senior team debut after racing in the 2017 and 2018 USA U23 men's eights, winning gold and setting a U23 best time in 2018.
The crew should be in the mix to make the final and have an outside shot at making the podium in a strong event.
MEDAL PICKS
Great Britain has shown top form so far in 2021 and head to Tokyo as one of the gold medal favorites. The biggest question is how well the Australian four have bounced back from a disappointing final in Linz. Assuming they have their 'A' game, they should be in the hunt for the top spot. Then the most likely crews racing for spots in the final and a shot at the podium will Italy, South Africa, Canada, USA, and Poland.
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