The year of the Crow

World Rowing continues to review the boat classes that helped make 2013 a hot year in rowing and the women's single sculls, featuring the mighty Crow, is reviewed here.

Crow stepped into the 2013 season following an Olympic year where she was the only rower to medal twice at the Eton Dorney Olympic regatta course and, despite recovering from injury, won the first World Rowing Cup in front of an admiring home crowd in Sydney.  

Behind Crow in Sydney was a new wave of single scullers. Olympic gold medallist from the women's quadruple sculls in Beijing, Bin Tang of China was second and Olympic gold medallist from the women's eight in London, Eleanor Logan of the United States was third.

Logan showed that her bronze wasn't a one off deal by taking another medal at the second World Rowing Cup in Eton Dorney (GBR). Ahead of Logan on this occasion and in the absence of Crow, New Zealand's Emma Twigg was first and Frida Svensson of Sweden was second. This would be the only time Svensson would show all season.

Crow then continued her unbeaten season by attending the third World Rowing Cup in Lucerne (SUI), coming first against a much tougher field. Behind her Logan took silver and Olympic Champion, Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic was third.  

When the time came for the World Rowing Championships in Chungju the big question was what could Crow do against the reigning Olympic and World Champion, Knapkova. Crow may have already beaten Knapkova during the season, but past evidence showed that the Czech knew how to pull it off when it really counted.

For the final at Chungju temperatures that had been hot all week remained hot. Crow looked on top of it right from the start. With just a quarter of the race completed Crow already had a boat length lead with New Zealand's Emma Twigg following in second. Twigg had raced Crow once so far this season, at Amsterdam's Holland Beker regatta where she finished second to Crow.

By the middle of the race Crow had an open water lead leaving Twigg to battle it out for second with Knapkova. At the line Crow had not only earned her first World Championship title, but she had also become the first Australian to ever win the women's single sculls. Twigg came through in second – her first silver medal from a senior World Championship event and Knapkova earned the bronze.

This race cemented Crow's position in the single for the quadrennial leading up to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. It also gave strength to Twigg remaining in the single. There had been talk that, depending on Twigg's results, she may move into a team boat, but this looks set to be put to one side. Knapkova, as the best female sculler in the Czech Republic, is very likely to stay in the same boat that she has so far spent her entire rowing career.

Coming up through the ranks is Austria's Magdalena Lobnig. Lobnig, 23, finished first in the under-23 women's double sculls the previous year and moved to the senior single for 2013. In the Chungju final Lobnig was fourth capping off a promising season that saw her always making the A-final.