Rowing World Cup: Andrey Strozhina is the World Rowing Champion

In September 2022, a remarkable spectacle occurred at the World Lightweight Single Sculls Championship final. Shortly before the middle of the race, Andrey Strozhina suddenly fell. The boat capsized, the rower was completely drowned, and his dreams of a medal vanished into thin air. Strozina returned to the boat and rowed to the end of the race. He finally reached the finish line after two minutes of competition.

On Friday afternoon, the 26-year-old from Zug had his next chance at a World Cup medal. The starting position was promising. Along with Pole Artur Mikolajczewski, Struzina was the big favorite for the gold. Perhaps the 32-year-old Mikolajczewski, who already has a World Cup gold medal in his palms, was a little stronger. Because in the semi-finals he set a better time than the Swiss.

But in the final, the Pole’s start was less good than Strozina’s. However, in the first 500 metres, the boats from Italy and Hungary set the tone. But Strozina improved and finished second behind Italian Niels Torre midway through the race. The Swiss had taken the lead before the 1,500 meter mark. Strozina said afterward: “I feared the Italian less than the strong performance of the Pole.” I focused on staying clean and technically strong. But Mikolajevsky’s attack did not materialize. He came third behind Strozina (gold) and Tori (silver).

Strong competition in the Olympic boat

What followed were emotional screams of joy. Strozina showed off his gold medal to the cameras and said: “It feels great, even if I didn’t realize it in the first few moments. This season has been exhausting and fun at the same time, as beautiful as it is.”

The great victory does not come out of nowhere. Strozina is the guarantee of success for the Swiss rowing team this season. He had already won the bronze medal at the European Championships, which was held in Bled, Slovenia, at the end of last May. He was also on the podium in all three World Cups this year. In Zagreb and Varese it was a silver medal, and in the local regatta in Lucerne at the beginning of July it was enough for a gold medal.

Under normal circumstances, Andrey Strozhyna would also be the hope of the 2024 Olympics. But it is not certain that he will be able to participate there. His boat class, the lightweight single sculls, is not Olympic. In order to participate in the Olympics, he will have to secure a place in the lightweight double sculls. But he has two strong rivals there, Jan Schäuble and Rafael Ahumada. Team Nidwalden and Vaudois qualified for the Olympics this week. On Saturday afternoon they will row for a World Championship medal in the final.