PHOTO BY LISA WORTHY
The 2023 Best Of series features the athletes, events, and moments that mattered in the year in rowing.
Athlete of the Year: Karolien Florijn
Undefeated in the single scull for the current Olympic quadrennium, The Netherland’s reigning world champion isn’t just winning races; she’s doing so usually by open water against fast competition, including one of the sport’s best ever: four-time Olympian (it’ll be five in Paris) and defending champion Emma Twigg.
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The Dutch phenom is the daughter of Olympic rowers and has been sculling since age 14. Her brother, Finn, sculls in the Dutch men’s quad, which won all its heats and finals at both Lucerne and Worlds this year. She won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the four before switching to the single and wrapped up this year’s overall World Rowing Cup trophy after the second of three regattas.
Florijn doesn’t rely on just her genes and long limbs, though. She sculls hard, emptying the tank early and often in big races. At this year’s world-championship final, her technique began falling apart after she’d blasted out to take the lead from the start, but she still won in rough conditions against the reigning Olympic champion by over five seconds.
Florijn has been nominated for World Rowing’s Women’s Crew of the Year alongside Great Britain’s lightweight double and Romania’s eight—both worthy crews, but their events are nowhere near as deep as the field Florijn races regularly and beats handily.
