2004 BEARINGPOINT ROWING WORLD CUP - MUNICH, GERMANY
A total of 613 athletes (303 men and 130 women) will take part in the second leg of the 2004 BearingPoint Rowing World Cup series to be held in Munich Germany from 27 to 29 May 2004. Hailing from 38 countries the athletes will race in 256 boats.
Many of the crews that raced earlier this month in Poznan have been reshuffled and reorganised as coaches continue to determine the best way to win Olympic medals. In addition, Canada, a segment of the United States squad, Argentina, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, South Africa, Hong Kong, Japan and New Zealand are all sending crews to race in Munich.
In the women's single, two-time Olympic Champion, Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus is back seeking another Olympic gold. With 34 crews entered, the men's single is the biggest event of the regatta. 2003 World Champion Olaf Tufte from Norway, disappointed with his fourth place in Poznan, will aim to show 2002 World Champion Marcel Hacker who is the boss in front of Hacker's home crowd. African Olympic Qualifiers Aly Abrahim of Egypt and, visa permitting, Ibrahim Githaiga of Kenya will also join the field.
In the women's pair American coach Tom Tehar will be testing the depth of his programme - the US has entered three crews in this event. The Canadians have entered crews in both the men's and women's pair in their first international races of the season.
Multiple Olympic medalist Kathrin Boron is back to health in the women's double and coach Jutta Lau has paired her up with Olympic gold medalist Kirsten El Qalqili. However, competition will be stiff as they will be pitted against two-time World Champions Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell of New Zealand.
From Slovenia, Olympic Champions Iztok Cop and Luka Spik are back together in the men's double - Spik returns from an injury that kept him from racing at Poznan. They will be up against the current World Champions Sebastien Vieilledent and Adrien Hardy of France.
In the men's four, a back-to-health James Cracknell of Great Britain, will add force to the crew that finished first in Poznan - testing them will be the World Champion Canadian four.
In the lightweight boats, Canada arrive with a new combination in the women's double which includes single sculling World Champion Fiona Milne in the stroke seat. The lightweight men's double is shaping up to be one of the most competitive of the regatta and with 19 boats entered just making the final will be a huge challenge. In the lightweight men's four World Champions Denmark will face pressure from last year's bronze medalists Italy.
In front of a home crowd Germany is hoping for victories in both the women's and men's quad. In the women's boat they are testing a new combination that includes two changes from last year's bronze medal crew.
The women's eight sees the arrival of Canada and USA who will be testing themselves against China, the Netherlands and reigning 2003 World Champions Germany. The men's eight also sees the return of two times WorldChampions Canada.
Outside of Europe the finals will be transmitted live from the www.worldrowing.com website. Within Europe various European terrestrial channels will show the regatta - see your local TV listings for more information. Eurosport will show delayed coverage on Sunday 30th at 10.00 hrs CET. Live scoring and results will be available throughout the regatta on www.worldrowing.com.
A full list of entries and provisional racing timetable are available on www.worldrowing.com/events. During racing the website will also provide start lists, live scoring and results as well as race updates and press releases.
For more information contact: Helen Bishop, Communications Manager, FISA, P.O. Box 18, Ave de Cour 135, 1000 Lausanne 3, SWITZERLAND tel. +41 21 612 0226; fax +41 21 617 8375; helen.bishop(at)fisa.org