World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne: Everything you need to know
The last event of the 2022 World Rowing Cup Series takes place from 8 – 10 July in Lucerne, Switzerland - Here's who to look out for, how to watch, and the schedule.
Rowing
The third and final regatta of the 2022 World Rowing Cup series is here.
Lucerne, Switzerland will be the battle ground for World Rowing Cup III from 8-10 July.
The event will be used as a crucial preparation before the 2022 World Rowing Championships in Racice, Czech Republic, in September.
Over 600 rowers from 39 nations will take part in 17 boat classes.
Adding to the excitement, several rivals will face off for the first time since Tokyo 2020.
The heats of the women’s pair will kick off competition on Friday 8 July at 9:00 CET. Finals of the non-Olympic boat classes will be on Saturday 9 July while finals for Olympic boat classes will be on Sunday 10 July.
Be sure to catch the action live Olympics.com - HERE. Some territorial restrictions apply.
World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne: Stories and stars to watch
With 70 athletes competing, China will have the largest team competing at the 2022 World Rowing Cup III.
Big teams will also be sent from Australia, Germany and Great Britain. Each nation will be eager to improve their World Cup standings.
The women’s single sculls will be an exciting showdown. New Zealand's Olympic Champion Emma Twigg will take on Switzerland's 2018 world rowing champion Jeannine Gmelin and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Magdalena Lobnig from Austria.
This regatta will be the first time the trio has faced off since the Olympic A-Final last year where Twigg claimed an emphatic victory following two fourth places at prior Olympics.
In men’s single sculls, Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Kjetil Borch was hoping to make a comeback after having knee surgery in May but will have to wait after testing positive for COVID-19 last week. Germany's Oliver Zeidler looks to be the favourite: the 25-year-old won the event in Serbia in May at World Rowing Cup I.
France's Olympic gold medallists in men’s double sculls, Hugo Boucheron and Matthieu Androdias, have been split into single sculls for the event. Tokyo 2020 runner-up, Damir Martin of Croatia, will be looking to make the podium along with Great Britain's Graeme Thomas, who came third at World Rowing Cup I.
Kiwi duo and Olympic champions Grace Prendergast and Kerri Williams are the team to beat in the women's pair. It will be the first time they will come up against Esme Booth and Emily Ford of Great Britain who won the first event of the series.
Meanwhile in the men’s pair, keep and eye on fellow New Zealand's Matt MacDonald and Tom Mackintosh, and Great Britian's Tom George and Oliver Wynne-Griffith. They are one a piece in the previous two World Cup races in 2022.
Netherlands rowers Laila Youssifou and Roos de Jong are front-runners in the women's double sculls having won back-to-back world cup races.
Rowing icons, Martin and Valent Sinkovic will be eyeing up their 22nd World Cup gold. The Croatian brothers are coming off two strong victories in the men's doubles sculls finals in Poznan and Belgrade. This season is their first back in the double sculls discipline after winning the coxless pair in Tokyo last year.
In the women’s eight, Olympic champions Canada could face stiff competition from Romania and Australia.
The men’s eight has the biggest number of entries in a World Cup event since 2017. With 10 boats in action there will be no shortage of thrilling racing. The teams from Germany and Great Britain are sure to put on a show after finishing a tight 0.03 seconds apart a year ago at the same venue.
World Rowing World Cup III: Schedule
The draw for the heats will take place on Thursday, 7 July.
Athlete Lane Selection (ALS) will also be used.
The new process allows athletes to choose their lane based on the ranking they got from their last race.The process was tested in Poznan, Poland, in June and represents an opportunity for tactical decision making. You can watch the action live on Olympics.com (Some territorial restrictions apply).
There will be also be live streaming of the A-finals on www.worldrowing.com
Local time: Lucerne, Switzerland (GMT+2)
Friday, 8th of July
9.00-17.00: Heats of all boat classes.
Saturday, 9th of July
9.00-16.45: Semi-finals of all boat classes.
A-finals of the non-Olympic boat classes
Sunday 10th of July
8.45-15.00: A/B finals of the Olympic boat classes.
Additional regatta information can be found on the official event page here.