World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals Draws Record Entry
November’s World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, the world championship for the new Olympic sport, will feature a record entry of 55 countries (up from 51 in 2024). Host nation Turkey, Egypt, Great Britain, and the United States are the only countries entered in all ten events, the most ever held at a World Rowing Beach Sprint Final.
“It is great that we participate in all categories, but at this point our focus is to extend the pool of senior athletes,” said USRowing’s Josy Verdonkschot, The McLane Family Chief High Performance Officer, “Part of the senior team participated in the European club [Beach Sprint] champs, to experience the course. Now they are in Italy for a final preparation camp before the World Beach Finals.”
The men’s solo event has attracted the most entries, 40. Chris Bak of the United States is the defending champion and will be challenged by New Zealand’s Fin Hamill, who recently won the Head of the Charles in the single and Henley Royal Regatta in the double.
“Chris Bak is our stand-out athlete in the men’s solo, interesting to see if he can maintain his crown with ever increasing competition,” said Verdonkschot. “We have some great athletes with great results in the past, but we need to create a bigger pool of candidates to keep improving.”
Other challengers include Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion (men’s four) Spencer Turrin of Australia and current European Beach Sprint Champion, James Cox of Great Britain, as the new Olympic event continues to draw athletes from traditional flat-water rowing.
Entered in the women’s solo event are Tokyo 2020 Olympic single scull gold and bronze medallists, Emma Twigg of New Zealand and Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig, the reigning World Rowing Beach Sprint champion. Twigg won the silver medal in the single at last year’s Paris Olympics.
“We should also be competitive in the other two Olympic events, Christine Cavallo in the women’s solo and Sera Busse, from this year’s worlds women’s quad with Chris in the mixed double,” said Verdonkschot.
The mixed double is the third of the three new Olympic events. The additional seven events at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals are the men’s and women’s under-19 solos and doubles, the under-19 mixed double, the inclusion (one Para) mixed double, and the mixed quad.
The post World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals Draws Record Entry appeared first on Rowing News.