Great Britain won four semifinals and the USA posted the fastest women’s four time as the A-final fields took shape on the second day of the 2026 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
Photo GBR W4-
Friday’s programme had been expanded because of expected adverse weather on Saturday. Minor finals joined the semifinals on a revised schedule, but calmer conditions and a slight tailwind greeted the crews at Duisburg’s Wedau course.
The top three crews in each semifinal advanced to the A-final, with several qualification places settled in the closing strokes.
France Finds the Line in the Women’s Pair
Australia’s Lucy Searle and Imogen Grey, who helped the Texas Longhorns defend their NCAA title in May, continue to impress in Duisburg. They controlled the opening women’s pair semifinal from the first quarter. Five seconds clear at 500m, they reduced the rate and crossed in 7:21.99, ahead of Heat 1 winners USA and Romania.
The second semifinal produced the first major finish of the day. Ekaterina Guseva and Elena Lushina, racing as neutral athletes, led throughout and won in 7:18.17, while Lithuania secured second.
France entered the final 500m fighting Great Britain and Greece for the last qualifying place. A 1:45.5 closing split carried the French pair into third in 7:22.33, only 0.32 seconds ahead of Britain. Greece followed another 0.69 seconds back.
In the men’s pair, Great Britain overturned Australia’s early advantage with the fastest final 500m of the race. The British crew won in 6:37.01, with Australia second and Belgium safely through in third.
Greece set the fastest men’s pair semifinal time, taking the second race in 6:34.00. Romania finished 1.30 seconds behind, while Italy claimed the remaining A-final place.
Champions Recover in the Doubles
The reigning Greek women’s double sculls champions advanced with a solid victory over a tenacious crew from Poland. The Poles finished second despite damaging their boat during the warm-up, when a collision with the bank broke the bowball and left the crew taking on water at each catch.
“We didn’t know if we would be able to race with such damage but fortunately we were allowed to race as it is,” Julia Rogiewicz said after the semifinal. France qualified in third.
AIN2 won the other women’s double semifinal. They were not pushed as hard, and clocked a time five seconds slower than the Greeks (7:06.89). Lithuania took second place narrowly ahead of Australia who finished five seconds behind the winners.
Portugal recovered from a slower start to win the first men’s double semifinal. They reached halfway in front and finished in 6:25.50, ahead of Germany, who passed Romania during the final quarter.
Defending champions Josef Marvucic and Marco Prati rebounded from a disappointing heat to give Italy victory in the second semifinal. Their 6:24.25 was the fastest time across the event, with Türkiye second and Ireland resisting a late British charge by 2.29 seconds.
2026 World Rowing Under 23 Championships
British Fours Double Up
Great Britain won both four semifinals it raced in. The British women led the Netherlands and Spain home, but the USA produced the faster performance in the other half of the draw.
The American women won in 6:35.54 and finished almost eight seconds clear of Romania. South Africa edged Ireland by 2.56 seconds for third after Austria, second at halfway, dropped to fifth.
Australia won the opening men’s four semifinal, leading from beep to beep and crossing the line a whisker under six minutes, with the defending champions USA next and South Africa third. Great Britain then won a much tighter race in 5:57.09. China closed to within 0.91 seconds, while Romania denied hosts Germany by 0.15 seconds for the final A-final berth.
Britain and Germany Split by a Tenth
The men’s quadruple sculls produced the closest comparison between semifinal winners. Great Britain clocked 5:46.12 before Germany answered with 5:46.02 in front of the home grandstand.
Birthday boy and Cal Bear rower Nathaniel Gauden stroked the British quad to victory over Poland, with Switzerland third. “It was exactly what we wanted it to be, got out and led from early,” Gauden said.
AIN2 followed Germany home in the second semifinal. Defending champions Czechia survived Australia’s sprint to take third by 1.36 seconds.
Jongsma Charges Through in the Single
Bianca-Camelia Ifteni won the first women’s single semifinal for Romania in 7:32.41. Ireland’s Sophia Young took second and Germany’s Paula Lutz qualified in third.
Spain’s Esther Fuerte Chacon led the second semifinal throughout, but Jente Jongsma (NED) supplied the decisive late move. The Dutch sculler came through the field to finish only 0.23 seconds behind the Spaniard, while Ukraine’s Iryna Batsalai took third.
“I was a bit at the back at the start but then I pushed through and through,” Jongsma said. “I really didn’t believe I could do it, but my coach tells me every day that I can do it, so I just tried it and it worked out.”
Portugal’s Diogo Goncalves recorded the fastest openweight men’s single semifinal time, winning in 6:55.56 ahead of Italy and Greece. In the delayed first semifinal, August Wisholm came from behind to beat defending champion Cevdet Ege Mutlu by 0.26 seconds. Germany’s Jesse Ilsemann held third after leading at halfway, while Lithuania’s Mykolas Montvila recovered from an early capsize and completed the course.
It makes for an exciting prospect come Sunday’s men’s single final.
Portugal also led the lightweight men’s singles through Joao Veloso, whose 7:03.85 was the fastest semifinal time. Italy’s Luca Borgonovo won the second race, with Kazakhstan second and the Netherlands taking the last place in the A-final.
Minor Finals Get Racing Underway
The USA delivered a well-paced first race of the day in the men’s double D-final, sculling through early leader China, to secure 19th place overall. At the finish Latvia outsprinted a fading China to take second by 0.33 seconds. More heartbreak for China followed as their women’s pair were rowed down in the next race; Sweden left it late to secure victory in the women’s pair C-final. China held off Germany.
The men’s pair C-final was a fantastic contest. An explosive effort from the New Zealanders gave them a one length lead early in the race, which they held to the finish. France, Lithuania, Kazakhstan and Hungary battled behind the Kiwis. At the finish France sneaked past Hungary.
USA made short work of the three-boat women’s double C-final, and France were similarly dominant in the men’s race.
In the women’s four C-final, Switzerland denied neighbours Germany their first win of the day. A ferocious battle to the line distanced Poland, and despite home support Germany were unable to rattle the Swiss, who kept their cool, and their half length lead. Rate-lovers Italy withstood an onslaught of Irish attacks through the middle of the men’s four C-final, before extending their advantage in the last quarter. Serbia finished third ahead of Moldova.
New Zealand’s men’s quad depart Duisburg with a lesson learnt in pacing. Rating 55 strokes per minute off the start, they blasted into to the front of the men’s quad sculls C-final field, but as distance ticked by they fell first to Italy, then USA, and finally to Romania. A last gasp effort saw the exhausted New Zealanders deny Egypt fourth place by less than a second. Italy, USA, and Romania finished first to third, respectively.
After Friday’s semifinal programme, the regatta now moves into its decisive weekend. The remaining crews have two competition days before the championships conclude on Sunday, 26 July. Saturday will see the first medals awarded: with finals in the PR3 singles, pairs, doubles, fours, and quads, as well as the first mixed double sculls action.
