The second finals day at the 2025 World Rowing Championships in Shanghai, China, saw Great Britain take poll position atop the medal table. Five different nations – and 11 first-time world champion athletes – claimed gold on day six.
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Drag
Stroke for stoke with Zhang Ling and Chen Yunxia (CHN), the Netherlands’ Roos de Jong and Benthe Boonstra eked out gold in the women’s double sculls. Buzzer to beep it was a big effort from the Dutchwomen, whose 1500 meter push was enough to starve off China’s final flurry. The margin of victory was just 0.88 seconds.
A quick start and a snappy rhythm earned Poland a historic win in the men’s double sculls.
“Our dreams came true. We didn’t expect that. We knew that we were fast, but we didn’t know that fast, so it’s awesome,” said Mateusz Biskup. “Our plan was to start quick and go as fast as we can for the 500 and take the lead. When we are in the lead we see what other crews are doing, and we can row our rowing.”
Emphatic wins in the PR1 singles came from familiar faces and first-time world champions: the European gold medallists and two-time Paralympians, Ukraine’s Anna Sheremet and Great Britain’s Benjamin Pritchard.
“I’ve broken European records, Paralympic records, and world championship records. I’ll take it all to be honest! I wanted to get off quick and hold the lead and towards the end I was holding on for dear life. I was dying in those last five strokes,” said Pritchard, who completes his ‘Project Undisputed’ and is now the reigning Paralympic, world and European champion.
“The temperature here is wild. It’s genuinely like rowing in an inferno!”
2025 World Rowing Championships
The day ended with medals races in the fours. The new British line-up secured the men’s four title.
“We had a great row in that final. It was quite a battle,” said James Robson. His teammate Douwe de Graaf said: “This feels awesome! We gave ourselves extra pressure by doing it this way [racing this combination for the first time at worlds] – but it’s worked out for us and it makes this high even better.”
The USA held off an incredible sprint from the Romanian women to win gold and their first world titles.
“It’s been a really great season. Azja [Czajkowski] and Camille [Vandermeer], our bow pair over here, won both the World Cups and this, so they went undefeated this year, so shout out to them. We’ve been working really hard, and to see it all come together is awesome.”
Racing resumes on Saturday with B-finals followed by medal races for the PR2 mixed double sculls, PR3 mixed coxed four, lightweight women’s and men’s single sculls, and women’s and men’s eights.
