Racing for the 2022 World Championships begins on Sunday, September 18, in Racice, Czech Republic. Below, we preview the men's single sculls event.
ENTRIES - 40
2020 Olympic Champion – Stefanos Ntouskos - GRE
2019 World Champion – Oliver Zeidler - GER
TOKYO 2020 RECAP
Sverri Nielsen of Denmark and Kjetil Borch of Norway had quick starts in the Olympic final and went stroke for stroke for the first 750 meters. Greek sculler Stefanos Ntouskos made his move prior to the 1k and took a small lead. In the third quarter, Ntouskos continued to slowly inch out on the field, with Nielsen going with him. At the finish line, Ntouskos sprinted for the win over Borch, with Croatian Damir Martin catching Nielsen on the last stroke to win the bronze.
Watch the Olympic Final here, M1x final starts around 2:02:00.
2022 SEASON RECAP
2022 has been led by Dutch sculler Melvin Twellaar. The 2020 Olympic silver medalist in the M2x switched to the single and raced to the gold at World Cup II and Euros, and took the silver at World Cup I.
German sculler Oliver Zeidler is back but has been plagued by inconsistency since winning the world championship in 2019. He finished 7th in Tokyo, then won World Cup I and the Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley to start this year, but finished 4th at the European Championships on his home course in Munich, after leading most of the race.
Ntouskos has raced once since his triumph in Tokyo, finishing a close second at the Europeans and British sculler Graeme Thomas has had a solid season, highlighted by a win at World Cup III and a bronze at World Cup I.
USA PROSPECTS
Ben Davison returns to the single this year after racing bow seat of the men's eight that finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics. He has a long history of international racing across the junior/u23/senior teams going back to 2013. This season, Davison raced to a solid bronze medal finish at World Cup II and is poised to compete for a spot in the A Final at the World Championships.
MEDAL PICKS
Twellaar, Zeidler, and Ntouskos are the favorites for medals, but who wins is really a toss up. Norway's Kjetil Borch will be a factor as well: the Olympic silver medalist in the event finished seventh at World Cup II in his only appearance in 2022 following recovery from an injury.
Also in the mix for the A Final are Thomas, Davison, Bulgaria's Kristian Vasilev, Canada's Trevor Jones, Australia's Jack Cleary, and Denmark's Bastian Secher.
GOLD – GERMANY
SILVER – THE NETHERLANDS
BRONZE - GREECE
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