With the opening ceremony wrapped, the rowers took to the water on first day of the 2026 World Rowing Under 19 Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The four-day regatta has brought 660 athletes from 55 nations to Bulgaria, with 14 boat classes racing across heats, quarter-finals and lane allocation. Medal races conclude on Sunday, 9 August.
Romania Controls the Bigger Boats
Romania delivered the fastest women’s four and quadruple-sculls performances. Its unchanged European champion women’s four stopped the clock at 6:55.96, becoming the only crew across the event’s heats to break seven minutes. The United States, defending world champions but racing with a new line-up, finished almost five seconds behind.
In the women’s quad, Romania won heat three in a time of 6:35.65, the fastest of the three heats. Germany and European champions Poland were also quick. Add heat one winners Great Britain into the mix and the fight for a place in Saturday’s medal race will be fierce; the semi-finals are on Friday.
Germany headed the men’s quad in 6:02.99, ahead of France and Italy. Its European title-winning line-up has changed in two seats since that championship, while Poland and Denmark retained their established medal-winning crews.
Spain and Germany posted the leading men’s four times, more than four seconds clear of the other semi-finalists. Behind them, only two seconds covered the next six boats. Romania secured the best lane in the women’s eights preliminary race, followed by Great Britain and Germany. On the men’s side there were two heats, which were won by Great Britain and Germany. Croatia, Romania and the USA could all be in contention for the podium.
Established Pairs Set the Pace
Germany’s European champions Jan Kohlbach and Niclas Brell recorded the fastest men’s pair time after overhauling Italy’s Novak Mitrovic and Pietro Blasig. The Italians led for much of the race before Germany moved through, but still finished with the second-quickest time overall.
Uzbekistan’s Rayhon Sattorova and Aydana Smetullaeva led the women’s pair after winning their heat. They took silver at the 2025 Under-19 championships.
Italy’s Carolina Cassani and Letizia Martorana also won their heat. They were 2025 world bronze medallists in the women’s four and more recently secured the European Under-19 women’s pair title.
Five Out of Five for France
France sent all five of its crews directly into the semi-finals on Thursday. The men’s coxless four left it late, but delivered France its only heat win. Both French quads and the women’s four finished second, while the men’s pair progressed in third.
Balthazar Mezoughi-Auguste, François Stambach, Gabin Fantino Apert and Maël Khaloua trailed New Zealand through the first half of their JM4- heat before cutting into the margin during the third 500 metres. As the red buoys beckoned, France lifted again and moved through New Zealand to take the win. France recorded the fourth-fastest time across the heats. They meet Serbia, Türkiye, Spain, New Zealand and Croatia in Friday’s semi-final. The women’s four unfolded differently. Lilya Bouchikhi, Lina Hofland, Lydie Pervieux and Suzanne Caron secured an early lead in the first quarter of the women’s fours, before the United States took control. The French quartet held on to second place and clocked the third-fastest heat time.
The women’s quad followed a similar pattern. Anaëlle Wales, Camille Yvinec Luzeiro, Lucie Marchand and Heloïse Gentin led at 500 metres, but Poland edged ahead and resisted several French attacks to win by one length. In the men’s quad, Emile Putet, Maxence Imard, Raphaël Nouvel and Rémy Cardon crossed each 500-metre checkpoint in third before a strong finish carried them into second.
Adam El Hamri and Paul Laigle held third throughout the men’s pair heat. Their closing sprint reduced Greece’s advantage but did not alter the order, securing a lane-six semi-final against Hungary, Spain, Germany, Ireland and Uzbekistan.
Ireland Advance Three Boats
Ireland has sent three crews into the next stages of the championships, led by a heat victory for Mattias Cogan and Evan O’Byrne in the junior men’s pair. The pair arrived in Bulgaria after finishing sixth in the A-final at May’s U19 European Rowing Championships.
Harry McCartney and Sam Wheeler-O’Brien made good progress in the 33-crew junior men’s double draw. Third place in their heat sent them back onto the course for a quarter-final later in the day, where second place kept them in the medal hunt. “Winning heats is important, but so too is responding when the crew has to come back and race again, as our men’s double demonstrated,” said Niall O’Carroll of Rowing Ireland.
New Zealand’s Aidan Bennett and Charles Manser handled that turnaround best, winning comfortably and recording the fastest quarter-final time. Turkey’s Kaan Korkmaz and Muhammed Eren Aykut also advanced with speed in the regatta’s largest event. Gaby Nagel and Holly O’Flynn advanced directly to the semi-final from their first race in the junior women’s double. European Under-19 W2x champions Tatiana Cherkasova and Anastasiia Burovtseva, racing as Individual Neutral Athletes, were the fastest heat winners. It wasn’t all good fortune for Ireland: the junior men’s four dropped out of the A-final pathway and will contest the C-final on Friday morning.
