Day seven of the 2026 World Rowing Championships. The final day of Amsterdam 2026 was marked by the Netherlands nabbing an anniversary eights gold, Romania’s star pair seizing historic triple victories, and two singles champions completing unbeaten seasons with their best rows of the year on the Bosbaan against quality opposition. It was frenetic, thrilling and full of promise for what the next two years will bring on the way to Los Angeles 2028.
Satisfying stats for hosts and visitors
The Dutch hosts, who have brought their trademark gleeful and celebratory approach to the regatta, won two of the last day’s events and enough minor medals to put themselves top of the table to close out their home worlds. The Bosbaan is unlikely ever to host a Games-qualifying championship or an Olympics because it so reliably produces a heavy dollop of cross-wind, but on this seventh day of the regatta the crosswind took a rest and, with tail conditions, several crews set new world best times, including the hosts’ men’s eight and mixed double. Others got very close thanks to intense and brilliant racing.
The mixed events added spice to the last day, and were a medal chance for some impressive athletes who threw themselves into the challenge with gusto. Irish superstar Mags Cremen added mixed doubles silver to her W2x gold, this time partnered with Konan Pazzaia, whilst the USA picked up bronzes in both the mixed doubles and mixed eights. But nobody had been betting against the winners of the two events, Romania defending their 2025 mixed eights title and a very popular Dutch duo, Roos de Jong and Simon van Dorp, cheered to the rafters of the metal grandstand as they brought home mixed doubles gold.
This, as far as anyone can tell, makes van Dorp the first ever Dutch athlete to take two world golds in a single week, after he stroked the M2x to gold on Friday. It also gave him the most unbeaten races of any athlete at the championship: he heard the finish beep seven times over the seven days and was never headed at the line.
His nearest competition for that were Adriana Adam and Simona Radis, the Romanian W2- who raced six times in all: three to win the W2-, two to win the W8+ and last of all in the mixed eights final which rounded off the regatta. Three golds in a worlds has never been done before by anyone. Radis, who is aged 27, must be hoping that World Rowing and the IOC will add a doubling-up mixed eights to the Olympic programme before she retires.
Romania uncatchable in a tail wind
In the women’s eights, Romania engaged their usual high start gear and ran off ahead of the pack while the Dutch, British, Americans and Canadians fought it out behind them. Only the Kiwis, a crew brought together from their W4- and W4x, languished behind. Early on the British had their bows leading this group, but for 500 metres in mid-race it was the Netherlands showing the way, until the Brits pulled back past them again and closed hard on Romania towards the line for a strong silver. The USA, quickest in the heat but outflanked much of the time by the driving speed of the final, found their mojo in time to slide past the Dutch just before the spectator grandstand, and claimed bronze.
It was the fastest women’s eights race there has ever been: Romania slashed 1.11 seconds off the world best time their predecessors in the boat had set during a repechage of the Tokyo Olympics, and GBR were also inside that 2021 time, too. “We were very sure that if we went fast enough, it would be impossible for them to catch us,” said Maria Lehaci (ROU), delighted both with the new mark and also by doing so from the middle of the lake after she felt Saturday’s crosswind had affected her W4- crew’s medal chances.
“Maybe someone told us before that it’s impossible to win from Lane 5, but apparently it’s possible. On the days before it was very tough and in my opinion there were some unfair conditions. [For this race] I heard Victoria [Petreanu], our cox, telling us how speedy we were, but I didn’t think about the time.”
“We’ve really been working on our start,” said Elizabeth Witt, the GBR bow-seat. “We raced Europeans against the Romanians and they got a length off the start. We’ve been working on getting those fast speeds and I’m proud of how we’ve stepped up over the last month to close that gap and just pack it all the way down. At about the 1km Jack [Tottem, their cox] said ‘you’re in fourth’ and you could feel all of us going ‘no we’re not!’ and we went.”
Henry claims long-awaited gold
The women’s singles followed the eight, and after watching their team-mate Lauren Henry claim the world gold she has shown so much potential to achieve, the British W8+ surrounded her on the medal raft to celebrate. Henry as usual pushed herself the entire way, but had outclassed both 2025 champion Fiona Murtagh (IRL) and Olympic star Karolien Florijn (NED) in the second half so thoroughly that she didn’t really have to worry.
Florijn, who has had a bumpy training season after taking a year out, led the race with high quality for 1200 metres but when Henry wanted to put her foot down, the Dutchwoman this year had no answer. Already lurking behind the two of them was Shanghai ’25 winner Murtagh, who was still nursing the after-effects of her own recent injury but had plenty of power to burn through Florijn to claim a threatening silver. When all three are fit and at peak training at the same time, there will be plenty to look forward to.
By the time she reached the mixed zone Henry could not stop grinning, after being hugged by the whole GBR W8+, with whom she trains and whom she describes as ‘my biggest hype women’. She’s won the worlds and Olympics, but in a quad, and this was something different. “It hasn’t sunk in yet, I think it will when I hear the [British] anthem,” she said. “I’ve had a really strong regatta. I did feel confident: I knew my best today was going to be good enough. So I’m thrilled. And to do it against such high quality single scullers is special. I’m sure we’re going to have some great battles over the next few years.”
She had the time to know how the race was going, a luxury in racing. “I think at the k I thought I’d put myself in a good position here, because I know how strong my second half is,” she explained. “With 500 to go I started to believe it and then the last 20 strokes I thought to myself, ‘20 strokes and you’re a world champion.’ And then it was, ‘Just don’t catch a crab and fall in, because that would be a really bad thing.’”
“It’s a fun one but it’s a mixed feeling,” said Murtagh. “I have to be happy with a second place finish, I have to be happy with the podium. They’re not guaranteed. They don’t come round often, you know, Paris was a reminder for me. I have to take every position and be grateful for it, but you know I’d love to have won it. But I want to be the person going into LA that everything kind of washes off, no matter what happens I can take it on and still perform. So it’s a lot of learnings and, yes, I’m happy with that.”
“I’m so proud,” said Florijn. “It’s great to have my best race here in the final and with the whole crowd. Hopefully I can have some improvements the next two years, and yeah, hopefully, one day beat Lauren, but she’s amazing and great. But I’ve really enjoyed rowing the last few months, and I’m very excited for the future.”
Zeidler 4 Zalaty 0, and Juel pays tribute to Tufte
After a year away from rowing to make sure he really did want to commit to another Olympiad, Paris 2024 champion Olli Zeidler (GER) looked very at home taking back his singles crown to finish an unbeaten season. His nearest challenger is reliably AIN athlete Yauheni Zalaty, but even when the Belarussian tried a few new tricks he was unable to disturb the composure of a very content Zeidler and came in clear water down to the German, another silver despite a very good row. This time Zeidler was only five seconds down on Kiwi Robbie Manson’s 2017 best time set in a howling tail-wind at Poznan, and it would not be unreasonable to expect the German to have a go at cracking it one day soon.
“It was not easy, Yauheni tried something completely new today,” said Zeidler. “He tried to stay with me on the first 500; this was the key moment for me, when I just stayed calm, remembered what I can do in the middle thousand, I was not worried about it.” His year has gone about as perfectly as it ever could. “A lot of decisions had to be made after the gap year, and apparently most of the decisions made by my team and myself were the right ones, we took more right decisions than bad decisions, and I think that was the key to success.”
“Olli was magnificent all season,” said Yauheni afterwards. “He proved that he is the best, and of course now nobody is equal to him, and I’m no exception.” However, Yauheni did admit that he’d pulled his back in training during the winter, from which he took a long time to recover, damaging his aerobic training. “But I’m very glad of [Olli’s] return, that he is in good shape, because he makes us singles players work more and more in order to win. Now I have a month of recovery, to congratulate my fans, my family who supported me all season and my son, who was watching [at home] and shouted ‘come on dad!’ I want to hug them as soon as possible.”
A few weeks after the untimely death of the Norwegian who inspired and mentored many, one of his more recent protégés, Jonas Juel, claimed his own place in the roster of Norway’s success with a superb bronze medal despite America’s Sam Melvin snapping at his heels. Juel kept his pace up to avoid being passed by Bruno Cetraro Berriolo (URU) in the first half, and then remained hyper-alert to prevent the joker in the pack, Melvin, springing any nasty surprises.
“You should always be worried when you have Sam Melvin in striking distance from you,” Juel explained. “He’s a fighter and he’s a very good sprint finisher. His races are often very evenly paced: even if he’s far off in the beginning, you know he’ll be back later that race. So I was always keeping an extra eye out for him.” Such maturity in the 26-year-old Norwegian bodes well for following in Olaf Tufte’s footsteps and there is no reason to think he won’t keep improving.
“[Olaf] was an important mentor and great support for me, also a great support for Frederick, our coach,” added Juel. “The two of them were very close, obviously having rowed together at the Olympics. His passing was a shock and a sheer source of grief and sadness to the entire region, rowing, and sports community in general. So it’s extra special being able to get a medal in his honour today.”
Breathless finale for the men’s eight breaks world’s best
The crowded men’s eights schedule saw them rowing hotly competitive semi-finals in the morning, and then three hours later sitting on the start of the M8+ final, a breathless programme for anyone. They’d had plenty of warning so as well as the usual lactate-removing warm-down routines, some nations had managed to practice consecutive flat-out races on training camps. The result was everything the spectators could have wanted, a crashing finale to the blue riband event in which the Dutch won on the last few strokes after duelling with Great Britain for the last half-minute.
It had started rather differently, although the Dutch had been nippy off the start, it was the USA and Australia who hounded them to the first timing point. But right on cue the British mid-course consolidation started to take effect around 1200 metres, and suddenly they and Australia were the ones egging the Dutch on, as the USA and Germany dropped out of contention. The spectator field roared, the Aussies started moving, but so did the British, and as the buoys changed colour it was level for second, with the Dutch confidence rising.
That should have been the end of it but with 90 metres to go the British surge put their bow nearly level, just one seat down. The noise was immense, about ten thousand Dutch fans willing their boat on, willing them to find one last triumphant gear. Two massive GB strokes and they looked as if they’d done it, but just at the very last second the Dutch lifted too, picking themselves up to surf over the bubble line to glory.
