Australia finished the opening day of finals in Duisburg at the 2026 World Rowing Under 23 Championships with three gold medals and two under-23 world best times.
2026 World Rowing Under 23 Championships
Susannah Lutze and Sam Stunell reset the benchmarks in the PR3 single sculls before Lucy Searle and Imogen Grey completed Australia’s Saturday treble in the women’s pair. Greece and the USA each collected two titles, while Great Britain also finished the day with two golds.
Championship finals opened with close contests for podium places. Greece won both the men’s pair and women’s double, Portugal’s Pedro Rodrigues and Tomas Neves took a historic men’s double gold, and the USA swept the women’s four and quadruple sculls. Great Britain’s men’s four and quad also prevailed.
Lutze and Stunell lower the PR3 marks
Spanish sculler Rocio Fraguela attacked the opening strokes of the PR3 U23 women’s single, but 22-year-old Australian Paralympian Lutze moved ahead after about 100 metres. Once established, she extended her advantage and won in 8:09.04 to set an under-23 world best.
Fraguela held on for silver ahead of Uzbekistan’s Dinara Belyanina. Lutze, who finished fifth in the PR3 mixed coxed four at the Paris Paralympic Games, had already raced in the PR3 women’s pair and mixed coxed four during the 2026 World Cup season.
Photo Australia’s Susannah Lutze set a new U23 world best time in the PR3 W1x.
“I think I had a pretty good start, it’s not my strongest part of the race, so I was happy to get out of the blocks well and settle into that middle kilometre rhythm,” Lutze told World Rowing.
Stunell then defended the PR3 U23 men’s single title, the title he first took when the event debuted in Poznan last year. The 19-year-old led throughout, although he needed a strong finish.
Photo PR3 M1x Sam Stunell takes a look before crossing the finish line to take defend his single title and set a new U23 world best time.
Three seconds outside world-best pace at 1,500 metres, Stunell accelerated through the closing quarter to record 7:27.73. He lowered his previous mark of 7:28.31 by 0.58 seconds. Italy’s Igor Zappa secured silver after moving away from Uzbekistan’s Akbarali Abduvaliev during the third 500 metres.
“After winning it last year I really wanted to come back this year and try and defend the belt and I did that, so I couldn’t be happier,” said Stunell, who admitted to feeling the pressure of being the defending champion, but credited his coach for preparing him for the regatta.
Searle and Grey secure an Australian first
Searle and Grey converted a carefully managed semi-final into Australia’s first U23 women’s pair title. The University of Texas teammates had eased through the second half of their semi-final, preserving enough energy to dominate the medal race.
In the final, the Australians led by three seconds at 500m and continued to control the field. Ekaterina Guseva and Elena Lushina, racing as neutral athletes, started well and remained in second position throughout.
Photo Texas teammates Lucy Searle and Imogen Grey completed Australia’s Saturday treble in the women’s pair.
The real shake-up came behind them. France sat sixth at halfway but drove through from lane six to take bronze, pushing Lithuania, Romania and the USA out of the medals.
“It’s a pretty surreal race we just had, and couldn’t imagine doing it with anyone else,” Grey said.
The result completed Australia’s three-gold haul from the opening finals and put the country at the top of the medal table.
Greece controls the pairs and doubles
Alexandros Chatziavgoustidis and Andreas Bourkas took charge early in the men’s pair and never surrendered the lead. Italy occupied second place over the opening kilometre, with Romania’s Patrick Sebestyn and Eduard Moldovan close enough to apply pressure.
The Romanians were in the silver-medal spot by 1500m, but Australia’s Jack Hansen-Kharhoi and Lachlan Brown had a stronger finish. Their sprint took them past Romania and earned them an under-23 silver medal to go with the junior silver medal they won in 2025.
Bourkas said the Greek pair’s long partnership had made the Duisburg final feel decisive. “We were six years together, and we tried too many times,” he said. “I said this is the year, if we don’t do it today, we will not do it ever.”
Photo Dimitra Kontou (bow) and Eleni Diavati (stroke) withstood pressure from Poland and the neutral crew to successfully defend Greece’s women’s double title.
Dimitra Kontou and Eleni Diavati followed with Greece’s second gold in the women’s double sculls. Kontou successfully defended the title she won in Poznan and collected the fourth under-23 gold medal of her career. Diavati stepped into the older age category after winning the junior women’s double in 2025.
The Greek crew came under pressure through the second kilometre. Neutral athletes Tatiana Cherkasova and Aleksandra Grigoreva, both 16, cut the gap and forced Kontou and Diavati to respond, but Poland had the best finishing sprint behind the leaders.
Anna Khlibenko and Julia Rogiewicz moved through to take silver for Poland. Cherkasova and Grigoreva finished with bronze, while France, Lithuania and Australia completed the field.
United States wins two women’s titles
The women’s four produced one of the closest finishes of the day. Great Britain led narrowly at the 500-metre marker, with the United States fixed alongside as the two crews separated from the field.
Annika Jeffrey, Claire Van Praagh, Ella Wheeler and Phoebe Wise took half a length in the third quarter. Great Britain lifted their rate in reply, but the Americans held on by a canvas to add the under-23 title to the senior women’s four crown won by the United States in Shanghai last year.
Spain took bronze from lane six: the first time a Spanish under-23 women’s four has ever won a medal in this event.
Photo United States women’s four of Annika Jeffrey, Claire Van Praagh, Ella Wheeler and Phoebe Wise.
The United States won the women’s quadruple sculls. Sumner Kerr, Kathryn Serra, Lila Henn and Madison Kieft broke clear during the second 500 metres and won by more than four seconds.
Great Britain, the defending champion, stayed closest before settling for silver. Italy paced their efforts well enough for bronze. The result ended a 19-year American medal drought in the event, stretching back to 2007.
“I don’t even think I can start to process what this means,” Henn said. “Going into this event this is more than I had ever imagined, I’m overjoyed.”
British men’s four and quad finish strongly
Great Britain’s men’s four overturned Australia’s early advantage with a powerful second half. Ben Mead, Tristan Wenger, Cameron Tasker and stroke Marcus Chute crossed almost one length clear, returning Britain to the podium’s top step after fourth place in Poznan.
The title was Britain’s fifth in the under-23 men’s four, more than any other nation has managed. Mead, Wenger and Tasker had won the men’s eight in 2025, while the full crew arrived in Duisburg after taking the Visitors’ Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. Australia won silver and the United States passed Romania for bronze.
Photo Great Britain’s U23 men’s quad of Josh Matthews, Elliott Donovan-Davies, Nat Gauden and Matt Long.
The final race brought Britain its second gold. Poland led the men’s quadruple sculls at each of the first three timing points, with Germany and Britain applying pressure close behind.
Josh Matthews, Elliott Donovan-Davies, Nat Gauden and Matt Long moved in front during the last 500 metres and continued to pull away. Germany passed the fading Polish crew for silver, while Poland retained bronze.
“It’s been a three-year project for all of the boys,” Donovan-Davies said. “We’ve either been in the quad or the double. It’s good to get back on board for the GB sculling team.”
The championship programme concludes with the remaining finals on Sunday, 26 July.
