POZNAN, Poland – While the 2019 IRA National Championship Regatta concluded just a few weeks ago, six Golden Bears will be back on the water this weekend as the World Rowing Cup II begins on Friday in Ponznan, Poland. Martin Mackovic, Ferdinand Querfeld, Christoph Seifriedsberger, Joachim Sutton, Alex Wallis, and Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk are slated to begin racing on Friday, looking to continue their history of success on the international stage.

The second of three World Rowing Cup events this summer, the World Rowing Cup II begins on Friday with the heats, while finals are scheduled for Sunday. The full schedule of racing, as well as lineups and watch information can be found at WorldRowing.com.

An All-Pac-12 selection for the Bears this season, Sutton will be racing for Denmark in the pair. A recent graduate, Sutton has competed for the Danish national team on numerous occasions, including a fifth-place finish in the four at the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, Florida.

Querfeld, another recent graduate, will be racing in the Austrian four while Seifriedsberger, a rising senior for the Bears, will be racing in the Austrian pair. The duo has a long history of success together on the international stage, winning gold in the four at the 2016 Under-23 World Rowing Championships and most recently reaching the B Final at the 2017 World Rowing Championships last fall in Sarasota. Both Querfeld and Seifriedsberger raced in the Bears second varsity eight that won the Kennedy Cup at the 2019 IRA National Championship Regatta earlier this month.

Mackovic, a 2018 graduate, will also be competing in the pair and will be representing Serbia. An All-Pac-12 selection during his time in Berkeley, Mackovic won gold in the pair earlier this summer at the World Rowing Cup I in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and finished sixth at the European Championships.

Wallis, a fellow member of the class of 2018, will be racing for the United States in the men's four. Wallis raced in this event last summer at the World Rowing Cup III and then went on to finish fourth in the four at the 2018 World Rowing Under-23 Championships.

Wegrzycki-Szymczyk, the three-time Pac-12 Rowing Athlete of the Year, rounds out the Cal contingent and will be racing for Poland in the single sculls. An Olympian in this event in 2016, Wegrzycki-Szymczyk won the C Final in the single sculls earlier this summer at the European Championships.

For more information on the Golden Bears throughout the year, follow the team on Twitter (@CalMRowing), Instagram (@CalMRowing), and Facebook  (Facebook.com/CalMRowing.