All you need to know about 2018 World Cup 3 in Lucerne

World Cup 3 in Lucerne wraps up the World Rowing Cup series, with GB sending 24 athletes athletes to Switzerland

About Lucerne

Lucerne is seen by many as the spiritual home of international rowing – having hosted world class events since 1933.

The Rotsee – a natural lake to the north of the city – hosted the first ever World Rowing Championships in 1962 as well as three more times since. Lucerne has welcomed the World Cup series every year bar one since its inception in 1997.

When will they be racing?

Racing, as usual in the World Cup events, kicks off on Friday morning with the heats for all Olympic and International events. Friday afternoon features a host of repechages and quarter-final action.

Saturday sees the semi-finals and more repechages, with a number of minor finals rounding off the morning session. The afternoon sees more semi-finals as well as the A and B finals of the International events, of which GB has interest in the lightweight men’s single sculls.

The rest of the A and B finals for the World Cup events will start at 7.55am (BST) on Sunday, culminating with the men’s eight at 13.48pm. GB’s last potential final will be the men’s quad at 12.59pm.

Click here to view the provisional schedule of racing.

How can I watch the racing?

As usual, we will be bringing you live text coverage on the British Rowing Twitter feed (@BritishRowing), as well as behind-the-scenes content from Lucerne on Instagram and Facebook.

The BBC will have live coverage of the A finals on Sunday morning from 9.00am (BST) on the Red Button and online. Unfortunately, there will not be the highlights show we have enjoyed from previous events, but the racing will be available to watch on the iPlayer after its conclusion.

Live coverage of Saturday and Sunday’s A finals will be streamed on the World Rowing website, as well as live tracking every race throughout the weekend. Click here for more information.

Who is in the Great Britain team?

GB have entered a smaller team for World Cup 3 in Lucerne compared to the first two events of the season. Twenty-one British athletes will compete on the Rotsee, some of who come off the back of victories at Henley Royal Regatta.

The men’s quadruple sculls, gold medallists at World Cup 1, will look for their second podium place of the series having won the Queen Mother Challenge Cup at Henley on Sunday. John Collins, Jonny Walton, Graeme Thomas and Tom Barras missed out on the A final in Linz, but go into Lucerne having won their last two races.

The women’s quad also won at Henley on Sunday, and will be unchanged for Lucerne. Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne, Melissa Wilson, Zoe Lee and Jess Leyden won the B final in Linz before winning all three races in the Princess Grace Challenge Cup at Henley.

World U23 medallists Sholto Carnegie and Rob Hurn join forces with Harry Glenister and George Rossiter – veterans of the first two World Cups – in the men’s four to make their senior debuts.

Five lightweight crews are entered across the men’s and women’s squad. Emily Craig missed Linz through injury but returns to partner Ellie Piggott in the women’s lightweight double. The duo won an excellent bronze in Belgrade last month. Ellie Lewis and Fran Rawlins also rekindle their partnership in the second lightweight double.

Jamie Copus joins Zak Lee-Green in the men’s lightweight double, with Sam Mottram taking the place in the lightweight single.

Alice Baatz will race in the women’s single, having finished 11th in Linz, while two men’s pairs are also entered. Matt Rossiter and Ollie Cook finished fifth in Linz on their comebacks from injury, while Callum McBrierty and Morgan Hellen move over from the men’s four.

Who else will be there?

The start list in Lucerne reads like a who’s who of the world of rowing in 2018, with Olympic, World and European champions on show on the Rotsee.

Just about everyone will have an eye on the latest instalment of Robbie Manson v Mahe Drysdale in the men’s single sculls. The Kiwi duo are vying for one spot at the World Championships and while Manson has the upper hand so far, Drysdale rolled back the years with a series of impressive performances en route to winning his sixth Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley on Sunday.

The Sinkovic Brothers also had an impressive Henley, setting a new course record in their final of the Silver Goblets & Nickalls’ Challenge Cup and will look to bounce back from their defeat to their Czech rivals in Linz.

Jeannine Gmelin also won at Henley and will return to race in front of her home crowd on the Rotsee. She won gold last year in the single, and with it a very expensive watch, and will be the one to beat once more.

The USA have entered crews in both the men’s and women’s eights for the first time this season, while Kiwi pair Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler will look for back-to-back World Cup wins.

Where do Great Britain sit in the World Cup standings?

Great Britain currently sit third in the overall World Cup standings, six points behind leaders Netherlands. With a smaller squad for GB than the other top nations, it’s unlikely we’ll challenge for the top spot, but New Zealand need to gain 45 points more than the British crews to move on to the podium.