Notoriously tough to call, lightweight rowing is known for its fine margins and fierce racing: but one thing’s for certain, new world champions will be crowned in Shanghai.
Photo Paris Olympian Kenia Lechuga.
Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls
The defending world champion Ionela-Livia Cozmiuc will not compete in China. After winning Canadian gold (LW1x) and Parisian silver (LW2x) the longtime lightweight powerhouse called time on her sculling career. The three-time Olympian has since started a family with her husband and fellow Romanian Olympian, Marius.
Of the 17 scullers racing in Shanghai five stand out. Greece, Mexico, USA, Austria and Ireland are best placed to fight for medals.
At the time of writing Dimitra Kontou is still a teenager, but she will turn 20 two days into the Shanghai championships. Despite her youth the Greek sculler has plenty of experience: she is a six-time Under 23 Champion (three Worlds and three Europeans), a three-time European silver medallist, and a Paris LW2x Olympic bronze medallist.
Seldom does Kontou leave a regatta empty handed. She’s the one to beat in Shanghai.
Unlike the Greek athlete, Kenia Lechuga Alanis is a single sculls specialist. The Paris Olympian (W1x) finished fourth in the lightweight women’s single sculls in Canada. The ever-smiling Mexican won gold medals at both world cups this year and has a good chance of scooping some silverware in Shanghai.
Austria’s world cup silver medallist Lara Tiefenthaler has been chasing Mexican tailcoats all summer. The Paris Olympian started the season by winning the European LW1x gold medal, her first medal of any colour at a senior championships.
American wildcard Michelle Sechser is a familiar face and tenacious competitor on the international circuit. For the last few seasons the two-time Olympian has been medalling in the lightweight double sculls. Shanghai will be her first international regatta since finishing sixth in Paris, and her third time racing as a lightweight single sculler at Worlds. She placed seventh in 2013 and fourth in 2018. Could 2025 be her year?
Ireland’s longtime lightweight single sculls campaigner, Siobhan McCrohan, is the only 2024 Worlds LW1x medallist in this event. She was a little off the pace in the final in Lucerne, but has strong pedigree as a former World Champion.
Other notable contenders include neutral athlete Mariia Zhovner, who beat Dutchwoman Femke van de Vliet to the Lucerne podium by 0.07 seconds. It’s the second bronze medal won by the 2024 European Under 23 Champion having started the season well in Plovdiv.
Norway’s Maia Emilie Lund got off to a great start this season taking silver in Plovdiv and bronze in Varese but slid down the rankings in Lucerne, finishing in 12th place.
Home support will rally around Pan Dandan of China, she made her international debut 14 years ago, aged 15, when she won LW4x silver at the Worlds in Slovenia. The 2018 Asian Games winner (LW1x) and 2018 World Champion (LW4x) last raced a World Rowing event four years ago.
Photo Mexico’s Kenia Lechuga racing in the lightweight women’s single sculls.
Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls
Shanghai will deliver a new chapter in the rivalry between Hin Chun Chiu (Hong Kong’s 2024 Lucerne Regatta winner and Paris M1x Olympian) and Uruguay’s first ever world cup winner, Felipe Kluver Ferreira.
Uruguay’s former Under 23 World Champion Ferreira won both world cups this year, but in each he was pushed hard by Chiu – who closed the gap to almost a second in Lucerne. In Canada, last year, a fiercely competitive LM1x event saw the Uruguayan outgunned in the semifinal, before winning the B-final 15 seconds clear of Chiu, who finished 12th overall.
German fans will be hopeful of a golden performance from Fabio Kress. For several years Kress has been a fixture in his country’s medal-winning lightweight men’s quad. He made his single sculling debut this season, and it couldn’t have gone better: he won the Europeans. Mindful, perhaps, of protecting his ‘honeymoon period’ in the single he hasn’t raced since.
Turkey is having a moment. Or, at least, it is if the Under 23 World Championships is anything to go by. The first of three Turkish under 23 gold medallists in Poznan, Halil Kaan Koroglu has been a consistent medal winner all season; winning a European silver medal in Plovdiv, 0.39 seconds behind Kress, and latterly dominating the Under 23 Europeans in Racice.
Koroglu is a strong contender and medal prospect. Can the youngster maintain momentum this deep into the season?
Ireland’s Jake McCarthy deserves an honourable mention – he has the tough task of following in LM2x Olympic and LM1x World Champion Paul O’Donovan’s footsteps. McCarthy came close to his first ever international medal when he placed fourth at the Europeans in Plovdiv. Racing in 2019 with his brother, Fintan (two-time LM2x Olympic Champion), Jake made the Europeans final in the lightweight men’s double sculls.
Of the 16 entries China’s Gu Jiantao, South Korea’s Jonghee Lee, and Malaysia’s Bin Ahmad Faiz Zuhairee are all set to make their international debut in Shanghai.
Photo Turkey’s Halil Kaan Koroglu who won a silver medal in the lightweight men’s single sculls at the 2025 European Rowing Championships.
Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls
Five crews will be competing in the lightweight women’s double sculls, none of whom have raced this event, this year.
Olympic talent will be on show from China’s Zou Jiaqi, who beat the Peruvian lightweight women’s double in the C-final in Paris. Jiaqi has since formed a new partnership with Fu Ling, who makes her international debut in Shanghai. As does Hong Kong’s Claire Burley.
Prior to partnering up Peru’s Palacios twins, Alessia and Valeria, raced each other in Lucerne in the lightweight women’s single sculls, finishing tenth and sixth, respectively. In Canada, the Paris Olympians ended their 2024 season by winning silver in the lightweight women’s pair.
Tunisia’s Khadija Krimi and Selma Dhaouadi, who raced in the openweight double in Lucerne, are also Paris LW2x Olympians. Indonesia completes the field.
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Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls
There are four crews in the lightweight men’s double sculls.
Li Yawei and Sun Man are China’s home favourites. This regatta will be Li’s first World Rowing event, but his 30-year-old teammate has a wealth of experience. Asian Games Champion and Rio Olympian Man is a two-time world medallist and narrowly missed the Tokyo Games after finishing third at the 2021 Final Olympic Qualification Regatta.
European challengers come from Germany and Georgia. Germany’s European Champion Joachim Agne teams up with the two-time Under 23 LM4x Champion Paul Maissenhaelter. Agne will be looking to turn the tables on Man, when they last raced (2022 World Rowing Championships) Man edged a 0.2s victory to secure a LM4x silver medal.
The Georgian duo are ditching the lightweight men’s pair, the boat class in which they secured European silver in Plovdiv, for the double. And Indonesia, who finished fifth in the C-final at the Varese World Cup, are the final crew in this event.
