Racing for the 2019 World Championships begins on Sunday, August 25, in Linz, Austria. Below, we preview the lightweight women's double and qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Regatta.
ENTRIES - 28
2018 WORLD CHAMPION - Cozmiuc/Beleaga - ROM
2016 OLYMPIC CHAMPION - Paulis/Head - NED
2020 OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION SPOTS - Top 7
PLOVDIV 2018 RECAP
The Romanian double of Ionela-Livia Cozmiuc and Gianina-Elena Beleaga took the lead in the second 500 and went on to win by a length for the second straight world championship. The American crew of Emily Schmeig and Mary Jones executed a fast sprint to pass Switzerland, Great Britain, and the Netherland for the silver medal. The Dutch double of Marieke Keijser and Ilse Paulis won bronze. Watch the final here.
2019 SEASON RECAP
The double of Zoe McBride and Jackie Kiddle from New Zealand won both the events they have raced in this year, World Cup II and World Cup III. McBride and Kiddle have had success as a combination, winning silver in 2017 and taking fifth last year.
Other than the Kiwis, the 2019 results have been pretty inconsistent with a wide variety of medalists. The Dutch took silver at World Cup III, but missed the final at Europeans. The Swiss crew of Patricia Merz and Frederique Rol won bronze medals at both World Cup III and Europeans, but missed the final at World Cup II.
The Romanians returned the same crew that won the last two years, but in their two races in 2019, placed fifth at both World Cup III and the European Championships. China has also boated a strong crew of Wenyi Huang and Dandan Pan finished third at World Cup II and fourth at World Cup III.
Additional doubles that have potential A Final speed are Italy, France, Canada, South Africa, and Great Britain.
USA PROSPECTS
America will race it's third different lineup of the quadrennial in Linz. Michelle Sechser and Christine Cavallo won trials in May, then raced at World Cup II in Poznan, taking sixth place. Sechser has a long history in the event, racing the double in 2014, 2015, and 2017, highlighted by a bronze medal in 2017. Cavallo will be making her first appearance in this event at world championship, but raced in a variety of events across junior, U23, and senior level, most recently the LW4x in 2018 that finished fourth in Plovdiv. The Tokyo qualification standard for the double is high, with only the top 7 of the 28 entries making the cut in Linz, but the USA has the experience and horsepower to be in the mix to make the final.
MEDAL PICKS
For the last two years, Romania has shown decent speed during the season, then peaked for the championship regatta to take gold. This year is also following that trend so they will be among a few crews that are favorites to win. New Zealand and The Netherlands also seem to be peaking, while China, Switzerland, USA, Belarus, and Italy all could make a run at the podium.
GOLD - ROMANIA
SILVER - THE NETHERLANDS
BRONZE - NEW ZEALAND
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