Racing for the 2023 World Championships begins on Sunday, September 3, in Belgrade, Serbia. Below, we preview the Para events.
The USA did not field entries in the PR1 Women's Single, PR2 Women's Single, PR2 Men's Single, or the PR3 Men's Pair, and the PR3 Women's Pair will not be contested at this World Championship, due to lack of entries.
We've included Paralympic Qualification information below for each of the events where Para athletes will be racing to qualify boat classes for Paris 2024.
PR1 Men's Single Sculls
ENTRIES - 23
2022 World Champion - Roman Polianskyi, Ukraine
2023 World Cup Winner - Roman Polianskyi, Ukraine
2023 Euro Winner - Giacomo Perini, Italy
Paralympic Qualifying Standard - the top 7 places in Belgrade will qualify for Paris 2024; one spot is available at the Final Paralympic Qualifier next year.
2023 SEASON RECAP
The season so far has featured a back-and-forth between the top two men in this event this Paralympiad: Ukraine's Roman Polianskyi, the Paralympic and defending World Champ and Italy's Giacomo Perini, who has now beaten Polianskyi at Euros two years in a row. Perini defended his Euro title to start the year, then bested the Ukrainian in both finals at Gavarite, but Polianskyi roared back to win the Varese World Cup a week later. Shadowing both is Uzbekestan's Egamberdiev Kholmurod, an A Finalist in Racice a year ago, who took third at Gavarite and the World Cup. Great Britian's Benjamin Pritchard, third a year ago at Worlds, will return to competition in Belgrade, and German Marcus Klemp, who started the season just behind Perini and Polianskyi at Euros should figure as well.
USA PROSPECTS
This is the largest Para event, by number of entries, and only the top seven can punch a ticket for Paris without going through next year's Final Qualification Regatta. The USA's Andrew Mangan has had a full campaign this year, his second in the event. He raced at Gavarite this year, finishing 6th in the Saturday A Final, and raced to 9th overall in Varese. Mangan was 10th at Racice in his debut a year ago, and his recovery from the broken neck and the resulting paralysis he suffered in high school was featured in row2k's 2017 Head of the Charles coverage, where he rowed with his parents and five siblings in an eight.
PR2 Mixed Double Sculls
ENTRIES - 13
2022 World Champion - Ukraine
2023 World Cup/Euro Winners - Great Britain
Paralympic Qualifying Standard - the top 6 places in Belgrade will qualify for Paris 2024; two spots are available at the Final Paralympic Qualifier next year.
2023 SEASON RECAP
The powerhouse GB Para team is back in this event after a year off, with Tokyo202One gold medalist Lauren Rowles racing to wins at both Euros and the World Cup with new partner Gregg Stevenson. Ukraine, winners in Racice, took World Cup silver, Euro bronze and a win on Saturday in Gavarite in GB's absence. The Dutch double won the silver at Euros and Poland also has a pair of medals on the season, most recently a bronze in Varese behind GB and UKR. Ireland has also been a consistent A Finalist in the most heavily subscribed races this year, so the battle to make the top six should be intense.
USA PROSPECTS
USA Paralympian Russell Gernaat is back in this PR2 double--the event he raced in Tokyo--this year with a new partner: Madison Eberhard, who made her first team this year since taking 4th in the PR2 1x in 2019. The US did not race in this boat class last year--Gernaat raced to fifth in the PR2 1x instead--but this season, the new combo made the A Final on both days in Gavarite, and took third on Sunday behind Israel and Italy. Making the A Final again in Belgrade will be a crucial step, with just 6 Paralympic places allocated from Worlds this year.
PR3 Mixed Double Sculls
ENTRIES - 9
2022 World Champion - France
2023 World Cup Winner - Australia
2023 Euro Winner - France
Paralympic Qualifying Standard - the top 5 places in Belgrade will qualify for Paris 2024; one spot is available at the Final Paralympic Qualifier next year.
2023 SEASON RECAP
France's Racice gold medalist Laurent Cadot won Euros with a new partner, but is reunited here with Elur Alberdi in the 2022 combo to defend their Worlds title. One new crew the French have not faced is the Australian combo which won World Cup 2 in France's absence. The Aussies did not enter this event in Racice but as this event approaches being included in the Paralympics for the first time, they have a crew here that features two AUS athletes with successes in para sweep crews: Tokyo202One Paralympian Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager, who has two silvers in the PR3 Men's Pair, in 2018 and 2019. Ukraine took second at Euros and third in the World Cup, and Brazil--who won silver in Racice and put two crews into the World Cup A Final this year--should be in the mix for medals. Brazils Worlds entry features Racice medalist Diana De Oliveira, who won silver again in Varese, and Jairo Klug, who came out of the Brazil 2 double that took 5th in Varese to replace De Oliveira's Racice partner.
USA PROSPECTS
Todd Vogt, who finished 5th in this event last year, returns with a new partner in Gemma Wollenschlaeger, who will make her World Championships debut in Belgrade. Making the A Final and contending for a top 5 finish to qualify the US for Paris will be a priority for Vogt and Wollenschlaeger in their first race together at Worlds.
PR3 Mixed Four with Coxswain
ENTRIES - 11
2022 World Champion - Great Britain
2023 World Cup/Euro Winners - Great Britain
Paralympic Qualifying Standard - the top 6 places in Belgrade will qualify for Paris 2024; two spots are available at the Final Paralympic Qualifier next year.
2023 SEASON RECAP
Great Britain continues to rule the waves in this event, adding wins at Euros and the World Cup this season to a run of golds that goes back so far that World Rowing just refers to it as as "many year winning streak." This year's GB crew features 3 returning rowers and reunites them with Erin Kennedy, the coxswain from GB's victory at the Tokyo Paralympics, who is back after a battle with breast cancer. Germany, France and Italy rounded out the top four spots at Euros, and Australia finished ahead of Italy to win at Gavarite, so could be in the podium mix as well.
USA PROSPECTS
The US crew returns three from the boat that took 5th last year in Racice: stroke seat Saige Harper, two seat Alex Flynn, and coxswain Emelie Eldracher. They will be joined by Skylar Dahl and Benjamin Washburne who will make their Worlds debut in Belgrade. In this event, all eyes will be on making the A Final, since the top six boats will qualify for Paris.
Comments | Log in to comment |
There are no Comments yet
|
row2k's Worlds coverage is brought to you in part by:
row2k's Worlds coverage is brought to you in part by: