The Netherlands will field sixteen boats at World Rowing Cup III on the Rotsee in Lucerne this weekend, as they build towards the 2026 World Rowing Championships on home water in Amsterdam. Nine crews race under the TeamNL Rowing banner and seven are entered independently, but the biggest Dutch name will not be among them. Karolien Florijn, the reigning Olympic champion in the women’s single sculls, has withdrawn with a back injury.
The Dutch federation (KNRB) confirmed that Florijn had been on track to make her return in Lucerne but was unable to travel with the team. The period ahead will focus on recovery and careful rebuilding towards the Amsterdam Worlds, scheduled for 24–30 August at the Bosbaan. A home championship without Florijn is a scenario no one in Dutch rowing wants to consider, and the next two months will determine whether the timeline holds.
Dress Rehearsal in Lucerne
TeamNL sees Lucerne mostly as a test run, with the crews it anticipates sending to Amsterdam in action. The eight-medal haul at the opening World Cup in Seville set the baseline; in Lucerne, where 42 nations, more than 650 athletes and over 275 crews are entered, that form will be measured against a deeper field.
The main deviation from the planned Worlds line-ups sits in the men’s sculling programme. Simon van Dorp and Melvin Twellaar, the named Dutch men’s double sculls for Amsterdam, are both entered in the men’s single sculls rather than racing together. A hard individual outing against a large international M1x field gives both men a sharp competitive marker before they reconvene in the M2x for August. There are 35 entries in the men’s single including Olympic champion Oliver Zeidler and Paris silver medallist Yauheni Zalaty.
Elsewhere, the line-up is largely unchanged. Both Dutch eights are set to race in the same combinations as in Seville, while the women’s quadruple sculls is assembled from the two women’s doubles that ran at the first World Cup. The W2x of Benthe Boonstra and Roos de Jong, the W4- of Tinka Offereins, Linn van Aanholt, Ymkje Clevering and Nika Vos, the M4- of Rik Rienks, Gert-Jan van Doorn, Eli Brouwer and Lennart van Lierop, and the M4x Percijn van Haeringen, Lucas Keijzer, Thijs Ruiken and Mats van Sabben all line up as intended Worlds boats getting a final competitive shakedown.
Heats begin on Friday at 09:00 local time, with semifinals and finals across Saturday and Sunday.
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Lightweight and Para Entries
Beyond the Olympic-class core, the seven independent entries also carry selection interest. Two PR1 men’s single scullers, Bram Graus and David Zeelenberg, are racing, while the lightweight contingent includes women’s and men’s singles and a men’s double.
Diederik de Boorder, the TeamNL head coach for talent development, said the regatta gives multiple lightweight crews a chance to prove themselves internationally on the Rotsee. He added that the best Dutch lightweight boat could still qualify for the World Championships in Amsterdam if it demonstrates enough speed, a direct incentive for the six lightweight scullers entered.
Para-athlete Eva Mol is not in Lucerne and is instead expected at the European Championships at the end of July.
Road to the Bosbaan
Lucerne closes the 2026 World Rowing Cup series, with overall series points still at stake across Olympic boat classes. For the Dutch, the regatta is also a final source of selection and form data. The regatta will show whether the settled crews that produced three golds, three silvers and two bronzes in Seville can hold that level two months out from a home Worlds, and whether the lightweight programme can force an extra Dutch entry onto the Amsterdam start list.
Florijn’s fitness, the van Dorp–Twellaar singles data feeding into their doubles campaign, and the lightweight selection calls will shape the final run-in to the Bosbaan.
