Andri Struzina from Zug is crowned rowing world champion

Zug rower Andri Struzina is the world champion in the lightweight single sculls at the World Championships in Belgrade. After the race, the 25-year-old said: “This season was stressful and pleasant at the same time.”

A remarkable scene took place in the World Championship final of the lightweight single sculls in September 2022. Shortly before the halfway point of the race, Andri Struzina’s boat suddenly tipped over, the rower was completely submerged, and his medal dreams vanished into thin air. He heaved herself back into the boat and rowed to the end of the race, finally reaching the finishing line two minutes after the competition.

On Friday afternoon, the 26-year-old from Zug had his next chance at a World Cup medal. The starting position was promising. Along with the Pole Artur Mikolajczewski, Andri Struzina was the favourite for gold. The 32-year-old Mikolajczewski, who already has World Cup gold in his palmarès, was perhaps a little stronger, because he set a better time than the Swiss in the semi-final.

In the final, however, the Pole got off to a less good start, and the boats from Italy and Hungary set the tone In the first 500 metres. But Andri Struzina improved and moved into second place behind the Italian Niels Torre at the halfway point of the race, and took the lead before the 1,500 metre mark. He said afterwards: “I feared the Italian less than the strong performance of the Pole. I concentrated on staying technically clean and strong.” But Mikolajczewski's attack finally failed to materialise. He came third behind Andri Struzina (gold) and Niels Torre (silver).

Big celebration for Andri Struzina in Belgrade       Photo: Andrej Cukic/EPA
Andri Struzina celebrates with the gold medal      Photo: Aleksandar Djorovic / Freshfocus

Strong competition in the Olympic boat
Emotional cries of joy followed. Andri Struzina showed his gold medal to the cameras and said: “It's a fantastic feeling, even if I almost didn't realise it in the first few moments. This season was stressful and pleasant at the same time, as hard as it was beautiful."

The great triumph hasn’t come out of the blue. Andri Struzina has been a guarantee of success for the Swiss rowing squad this season. He already won the bronze medal at the European Championships in Bled, Slovenia at the end of May and was also on the podium at all three World Cups this year. He took the silver medal in Zagreb and Varese, and gold at his home regatta in Lucerne at the beginning of July.

Under normal circumstances, Andri Struzina would also be a hope for the 2024 Olympic Games. But it is anything but certain that he will be able to take part there. His boat category, the lightweight single sculls, is not an Olympic class. In order to take part in the Olympics, he would have to get a place in the lightweight double sculls. But he has two extremely strong competitors there, Jan Schäuble and Raphaël Ahumada. The Nidwalden and Vaudois qualified for the Olympics this week. They came second in the A final of the lightweight double sculls on Saturday afternoon.