Replacing the 2020 World Rowing Cup series, the World Rowing Fantasy Cup left it to public vote to select their favorite top rowers and crews across a selection of boat classes and eras.
The Fantasy Cup played out over the three weekends that would have been the World Rowing Cup series’ weekends. The rowing community was asked to vote in head-to-head ‘races’ with the winner moving on to the next round in the series to compete against a new contender.
Just over 55,000 votes ended with nine boat class winners decided. The women’s pair opened the racing. The British crew of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning came off their win in round two of the racing to go up against the all-star Romanian crew of Georgeta Andrunache and Viorica Susanu. The British prevailed, but only just, over Romania’s iconic pairing.
Winner: Great Britain
Runner-up: Romania
The men’s pair was seen as the ultimate showdown with the race taking place between Great Britain’s Sir Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent who dominated the pair through the 1990s and the Kiwi Pair of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond who set a record with their winning streak through the 2000’s. Murray and Bond got to the finish line with relative ease in first.
Winner: New Zealand
Runner-up: Great Britain
The women’s eight saw the return of the 2004 Romanian crew that battled their way through the first two rounds to end up in the final. They were up against the current World Champions, the 2019 New Zealand women’s eight. Romania proved their dominance.
Winner: Romania
Runner-up: New Zealand
For the men’s eight it was the 2016 Olympic Champion British boat against the 2019 World Champion German boat. This turned out to be one of the closest races of the day. Germany finished with the upper hand.
Winner: Germany
Runner-up: Great Britain
The highly anticipated women’s single sculls featured Ekaterina Karsten, the rowing legend from Belarus, who had already made it through two rounds of racing. She went up against current World Champion Sanita Puspure of Ireland. Karsten remained unbeatable.
Winner: Ekaterina Karsten (BLR)
Runner-up: Sanita Puspure (IRL)
The men’s single sculls pinned rowing legend from New Zealand Mahe Drysdale against the young reigning World Champion Oliver Zeidler from Germany. Drysdale finished first and, in the process, picked up the most votes in the Fantasy Cup.
Winner: Mahe Drysdale (NZL)
Runner-up: Oliver Zeidler (GER)
The lightweight women’s double sculls featured the New Zealand duo of Jackie Kiddle and Zoe McBride against Romania’s Constanta Burcica and Angela Alupei-Tamas: past heroes against the current World Champions with the current success story New Zealand winning.
Winner: New Zealand
Runner-up: Romania
The lightweight men’s double sculls proved that the Danish are unstoppable. Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist of Denmark raced Poland’s Tomasz Kucharski and Robert Sycz and finished as the overall winners.
Winner: Denmark
Runner-up: Poland
The PR2 para mixed double sculls had Great Britain’s Laurence Whiteley and Lauren Rowles challenge the Dutch duo of Corne de Koning and Annika van der Meer. The current World Champions, Great Britain won.
Winner: Great Britain
Runner-up: The Netherlands
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