A strong tailwind turned Plovdiv’s finals day into the fastest session of the 2026 World Rowing Cup season, with four World Rowing Cup best times falling across the programme. The USA left Bulgaria on top of the medal table with six golds and five silvers, while the standout performances came from New Zealand, Italy and Croatia.
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Drag
Full Race Report from Day Three of 2026 World Rowing Cup II
Men’s Pair
Oliver Welch and Benjamin Taylor confirmed their status as the leading crew of the M2- season. The New Zealand pair, already winners in Seville, led by 1.5 seconds at 500m and stretched the margin throughout. Their time of 6:09.04 was a World Rowing Cup best, just 0.54 seconds outside the world best time set by Hamish Bond and Eric Murray at the London 2012 Olympics. Augustine Rodriguez and Peter Chatain (USA) took silver after a strong second 1000m, with Italy’s Matteo Lodo and Giovanni Codato in bronze.
“It’s pretty special to get close to our idols and some of the world’s best ever,” Taylor said. “The world best time is definitely something we want to strive for one day.”
Women’s Pair
The W2- final was a race of lead changes. Seville winners Anna Santruckova and Pavlina Flamikova of Czechia set the early pace before Chile’s Melita and Antonia Abraham moved clear by halfway. Teal Cohen and Kate Knifton then charged through in the final 500m to win for the USA, with Chile improving from Seville bronze to silver.
“We’ve been putting in a lot of hard work at practice, so we were just excited to go out there and see how everything was paying off,” Knifton said.
How to Watch World Rowing Cup II in Plovdiv
Women’s Double Sculls
China’s Zhang Xinyu and Shen Shuangmei looked comfortable at halfway with a lead of a couple of seconds, but Clara Guerra and Alice Gnatta timed their move through the middle thousand metres and were almost level by 1500m. In the final 500m, the Italian pair, racing together for the first time, broke clear to win by a length. Behind them, Kristi Wagner and Lauren O’Connor claimed silver for the USA by 0.01 seconds over China in a photofinish.
“In the last 500 we think OK, it’s ours, now we can win,” Guerra said.
Men’s Double Sculls
Martin and Valent Sinkovic arrived in Plovdiv off a 13th-place finish in Seville and underwhelming earlier rounds. In the final, China’s Yi Xudi and Deng Zhiwei led the race out, with the Croatians the only crew able to stay within range, sitting about half a length back at halfway. The Sinkovics then lifted their pace and kept going. A half-length deficit became a winning margin of almost five seconds. Their 6:00.97 was a World Rowing Cup best time, roughly a second shy of their own world best.
New Zealand’s Finlay Hamill and Benjamin Mason overhauled the fading Chinese in the closing 500m to take silver.
“We are not dead,” Martin Sinkovic said. “We can still manage a good race. It was close to a world record, but we’ll leave it for another time.”
