Racing for the 2019 World Championships begins on Sunday, August 25, in Linz, Austria. Below, we preview the lightweight men's double and qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Regatta.
ENTRIES - 33
2018 WORLD CHAMPION – O'Donovan/O'Donovan - IRL
2016 OLYMPIC CHAMPION – Houin/Azou - FRA
2020 OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION SPOTS – Top 7
PLOVDIV 2018 RECAP
The final in Plovdiv turned into a two boat race between the brothers from Ireland, Gary and Paul O'Donovan, and Stefano Oppo and Pietro Ruta of Italy. Italy got out early and led to nearly the 1500m mark before being overtaken by Ireland who would go on to win their first world championship in the event. Tim Brys and Niels Van Zandweghe of Belgium won the bronze over New Zealand, Norway and Spain. Watch the final here.
2019 SEASON RECAP
This year has been dominated by the new German double of Jonathan Rommelmann and Jason Osborne. Osborne, who won the LM1x world championships last year, replaced Konstantin Steinhuebel in the boat, and the new crew is unbeaten, winning World Cup II, World Cup III, and the European Championship.
Finishing second to the Germans at World Cup II and Europeans were Italy, the same crew that won the silver in both 2017 and 2018. Ireland's new double of Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan raced at World Cup III and nearly knocked off the Germans, losing by just 0.03 seconds.
Norway returns it's double of Kristoffer Brun and Are Strandli that have won multiple medals in the event, including bronze in Rio and gold in Chungju. In 2018, the crew qualified for the A Final but had to replace Brun for medical reasons for the final, finishing fifth.
New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and Belgium all are set to race doubles that have shown A Final speed this year, and could potentially break onto the podium.
USA PROSPECTS
The American double of Nick Trojan and Andrew Campbell won Trials II in May and made their international debut as a crew at World Cup II in Poznan. The crew had a rough go, finishing third in the C Final. Trojan and Campbell should be competitive in Linz, however they have a tough mountain to climb to qualify for Tokyo with only the top seven out of 33 entries making the cut in Austria.
MEDAL PICKS
Germany are the favorite based on the season's results, but the margins are likely to be razor thin with so much on the line in the only lightweight men's event for the 2020 Olympics. Italy has placed second the past two years and may break through in Linz and the Irish and Norwegians are capable of anything.
GOLD – ITALY
SILVER – IRELAND
BRONZE - NORWAY
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