Sunday’s finals in Lucerne produced two headline winners. The USA won the overall World Rowing Cup title for the first time in the competition’s history, while Great Britain finished top of the Lucerne medal table with six golds, plus one silver and one bronze across the weekend’s finals.
How to Watch World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne
The American title was built from depth across the two regattas they attended, World Rowing Cup II in Plovdiv and the Lucerne finale. The USA entered the final weekend on 67 points after Plovdiv, 16 clear of the Netherlands and 27 ahead of Great Britain. Under World Rowing’s scoring system, nations receive eight points for a win, six for second, five for third, and down to one for seventh, with only the best-placed boat per country counting in each event.
American Sweep Depth
The women’s sweep squad drove the USA’s successful season. Gold medals in the women’s pair and four at both Plovdiv and Lucerne, plus gold and bronze in the women’s eight, gave the Americans what would prove to be an insurmountable base. More US swag came courtesy of two silvers in the men’s pair, and a bronze in the men’s double sculls in Lucerne. And having seen off his domestic rival, US Olympian Jacob Plihal, in Plovdiv, Plovdiv gold medallist Sam Melvin split the Paris M1x medallists with an impressive bronze-medal-winning scull in Lucerne, denying Dutchman Simon Van Dorp a spot on the podium.
The women’s pair final showed yet more American strength. Czechia’s Anna Santruckova and Pavlina Flamikova led from the start, but Regina Salmons and Mia Levy (USA2) closed through the final 250 metres with a sprint that Czechia could not answer.
“I just trusted Mia’s legs, and she’s such a racer, and I knew when we were going to go we were going to go,” Salmons said.
Czechia took second but still secured the World Cup event trophy for the women’s pair across the season.
British Medal Haul
Great Britain came closest to disrupting the American title run: they finished a single point ahead of the Dutch and 20 off the American’s 114 points. The Brits did, however, top the medal table in Lucerne. With several crews rejigged since World Rowing Cup I in Seville, the British won the men’s and women’s quadruple sculls, women’s eight, men’s four, women’s single sculls, and PR1 men’s single sculls. Silver in the men’s eight and bronze in the women’s four completed the set.
Lauren Henry in the women’s single sculls, the men’s four, and the women’s quadruple sculls crews all won World Rowing Cup event trophies for Britain, confirming sustained form across the season.
Wider Medals
Elsewhere, the Netherlands took gold and the event trophy in the women’s double sculls through Roos de Jong and Benthe Boonstra, who held off two charging American boats by 0.48 seconds. Belgium’s Aaron Andries and Tibo Vyvey won the men’s double sculls, adding a Lucerne gold to their surprise silver from Seville. Oliver Zeidler won the men’s single sculls for Germany, matching his Seville victory and claiming that event’s Cup trophy alongside the German men’s quadruple sculls.
