Long morning European Rowing Championships 2022 Taking place in Munich (Germany), the first indications of the front row starters in the race for medals. Some good signs for Italy, but various gray areas, especially of the tip sector, remain unconvinced, as has already happened at the World Cup.

The most interesting news came from the lightweights. Olympic champions Valentina Rodini and Federica CesariniBrushing off alleged physical ailments in the spring, they dominated Laura Tarantola and Claire Bowen’s France, silver at Tokyo 2020, and Chrono understands the best of batteries. The Blues qualified directly for Final A, where there was a close battle with Britain’s Emily Craig and Imogen Grant. After the tests in the World Cup. Director Franco Cattaneo brought together a couple of Pietro Ruta and Stefano Oppo, qualified for the final after winning the second battery ahead of Portugal and Norway. Irish Olympic champions Fintan McCarthy and today’s best Paul O’Donovan look to have something more to aim for at the continental title.

Good directions from four reformed senior couples: Compared to the last Olympic Games, Andrea Panizza and Giacomo Gentili are joined by youngsters Niccolò Carucci and Luca Ciumento. This is a team with huge potential, capable of aiming for an Olympic title in Paris in 2024, although it still needs time to find the right mix. Meanwhile, the Azzurri reached the semi-finals after winning their battery in front of Great Britain and taking the second time trial overall., although Romania is almost 3 seconds faster: in the continuation of the continental review, the values ​​may change in favor of the Italians. On the other hand, the female fours of Clara Guerra, Alessandra Montesano, Valentina Iseppi and Chiara Ondoli were not convinced: the standard bearers of Bell Pace never directly entered the final, finishing third behind the great. Britain and Switzerland. Now it is necessary to change gears from repechage.

There is still a long way to go to get back into men’s senior doubles: Simon Venier and David Mumolo stamped the pass for the semi-finals, however, the time trial will tell how far the international summit is still. Not sure if these are the couple that DT Cattaneo wants to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, missing from this boat in the previous edition. Better than Women’s Senior Doubles Kiri Tontonati and Stefania GobiHeats’ fourth time in the semifinals with qualification to think about the podium.

Italy continues to struggle in the seniors. Matteo Sartori, who could be very useful in the doubles or quadruple pairs in the future, will finish last in his battery and pass Gia Colazante in the women’s repechage. As for the lightweights (in this case the non-Olympic specialties), Gabriel Soares unimpressed and qualified for the semifinals, while the excellent Stéphanie Buttignon will have to go through a repechage.

Now we will come A sore point of the tip: Unfortunately Italy did not really convince here as in the predictions. However, a precedent is necessary: ​​in the year following the Olympics, Director Cattaneo decided to do some experiments. In this sense, it was decided to include all the best rowers in this specialty in eight: we can think of Marco di Costanzo, Matteo Lodo, ​​Giuseppe Vicino and Matteo Castaldo. However, while doing so, the shortest boats, i.e. two to four boats, remained uncovered: There is no shortage of spare parts, however these are youngsters with a promising future but not yet ready to compete at the highest levels. Giovanni Abagnale and Alfonso Scalzone were out of shape and qualified for the semifinals for the seventh time overall, and therefore in contention for a final. The final action will be very complicated for the 4 without Paolo Covini, Giovanni Codato, Salvatore Monfreccola and Nuncio di Colandria in recovery and far from the best crew. Eight, it must be said, certainly did not shine in the preliminary competition (in fact, only five top boats were registered)., finished in fourth place. It is necessary to wait for the conclusion of the Europeans to achieve a balance, although the first impression is that the experiment is not giving the desired results.

Some difficulties, as expected, for the women’s tip, which is the area where Italy lags behind in the international arena. No Alice Codato and Aisha Rosek both last place and setback; Third place is sensible, without Silvia Terrazzi, Laura Meriano, Giorgia Pellachi and Veronica Bambaca. Repechage features four very small girls who can play with ambitions to make it to the magnificent six. The prospects of the women’s eight are also interesting, third in the battery behind Romania and Great Britain, but in this case there is a definite chance to play for a ticket to the final act.

Photo: Mimmo Perna / Federcanottaggio