• Men’s doubles, women’s doubles, women’s doubles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles will start from 2:30 to 3:50 Poland time
  • Initially, the two final matches with the participation of the Poles were scheduled to take place the day before, but the weather forecast caused them to be postponed.
  • A quartet of women, who podiumed the world championship three times in a row in 2017-2019, had the best chance of the four contenders in the finals.
  • More such stories can be found on the homepage of Onet.pl

This backlog from the finals with the participation of the Whites and the Reds was not included in the games schedule. In order to make the regatta more attractive, the decisive races were distributed over several days, but the weather, or rather its forecast, forced the organizers to change. According to the new schedule, the men’s doubles, the women’s doubles four times without a leader, the men’s doubles and the women’s doubles will start from 2:30 to 3:50 Poland time. Before 4 a.m., it will be known how many medals are in the rowing bag and whether or not it turns out to be non-leak. It seems unlikely, but the four opportunities are all independent of each other. In theory, because it can be assumed that the previous three medals might also push the ladies to start last, and that the three failures of their teammates would put additional pressure on them.

But after all, this settlement is one of the most reliable solutions in our team. Of course, it’s just a sport and no one can be one hundred percent. Confident, but kayaking is a relatively measurable discipline. Agnieszka Kobus-Zawojska, Maria Sajdak, Marta Wieliczko and Katarzyna Zillmann have already proven more than once that they can prepare for the most important event of the season. This was the case every time in 2017-2019, when they stood on the podium at the world championships three times in a row, winning two silvers and two golds. Last year, in the season curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic, they won only the bronze medal at the European Championships, but there, for health reasons, Wieliczka was replaced by Katarzyna Boruch.

This year in the European Championships, they were only in the B final, but this time Kobus-Zawojska was missing, so the result should not be affected. Most importantly, the Polish women finished third at the last World Cup in Savoy. The other thing is that there weren’t any Chinese women there, and they confirmed in Tokyo in the qualifying rounds that they were incredibly strong. The Polish women came in more than 4 seconds behind and were 0.4 seconds slower than the German women’s second-round winners. Competing with this quartet is certainly ambitious as well, because Marcin Witkowski coaches the settlement of our western neighbors. And it was he who in 2016 led to the bronze medal for the four Poles, who were still present in the quartet of Sajdak (then before their wedding as Springwald) and Kobus.

The woman’s double quadruple and her male counterpart are two Polish settlers who had to wait longer for the final chance. They started by elimination on Friday, which is before the opening ceremony, and in the final they had to fight on Tuesday. The changes were mainly caused by the approach of Cyclone Nepartak, which caused strong winds.

The Sea Forest Waterway is located on an artificial island in Tokyo Bay, perpendicular to the ocean. Therefore, in the case of wind, it often has a lateral direction relative to the rowing direction of the competitors, and this is the most distorted outcome of the regatta. The four aforementioned contenders without a leader, who did not qualify for the finals, complained about it. With strong side winds it turns out that lanes 5 and 6 are the most difficult, and the best conditions are lanes 1 and 2. Usually 3 and 4 are considered the best and this is where the best is put in the qualifying rounds. The organizers have the option to move the tracks, but they don’t want to do that yet.

– At the Olympic Games in Rio, the start was also postponed to the next day and we only knew that when we got to the track. So maybe it can’t be treated as something unexpected, but rather as a gaming routine – Kobus-Zawowska commented with a laugh. – One day is not a problem. It is important that we have the opportunity to train – added Victor Chapelle, who has the opportunity to celebrate two medals in the family.

He is the husband of Monica (née Ciaciuch, bronze medalist from Rio) of four women without a leader. Theoretically, we rely on this settlement to a minimum. At the last World Cup in 2019, it was the least, i.e. … fourth. Each of the doubles is silver, and Miros Zaw Ziętarski and Mateusz Biskup are bronze. But we’ve already found out that the results of that tournament don’t necessarily translate into results in Tokyo – then the Polish four without a leader in the second-tier final.

double men

Start: 2:30

Coach: Robert Six

Mateusz Biskop (27 years old, RTW Lotto Bydgostia), Mirosław Ziętarski (28 years old, AZS UMK Toruń)

Final formation (by tracks): 1. Switzerland, 2. China, 3. France, 4. Netherlands, 5. Great Britain, 6. Poland

Four without a women’s helmet

Start: 2:50

Coach: Michal Kozowski

Monica Chapelle (29, RTW Lotto Bydgostia), Joanna Dittmann (29, RTW Lotto Bydgostia), Olga Michałkiewicz (27, AZS AWF Gorzów Wlkp.), Maria Wierzbowska (26, RTW Lotto Bydgostia)

Final lineup (by track): 1. Great Britain, 2. Ireland, 3. Australia, 4. Netherlands, 5. China, 6. Poland

Four double men

Start: 3:30

Coach: Aleksandr Wojciechowski

Fabian Paraski (22, WTW Włocławek), Wiktor Chabel (36, Posnania Pozna), Dominik Czaja (26, AZS AWF Warsaw), Szymon Piciel (28, AZS AWF Warsaw)

Final lineup (by track): 1. Great Britain, 2. Italy, 3. Poland, 4. Netherlands, 5. Australia, 6. Estonia

four women

Start: 3:50

Coach: Jacob Urban

Agnieszka Kobus-Zawojska (31, AZS AWF Warsaw), Maria Sajdak (30, AZS AWF Kraków), Marta Wieliczko (27, Wisła Grudziądz), Katarzyna Zillmann (26, AZS UMK Toruń)

Final lineup (by track): 1. Italy, 2. Netherlands, 3. China, 4. Germany, 5. Poland, 6. Australia