This weekend the Rotsee hosts 42 nations and more than 650 athletes for the 2026 World Rowing Cup finale, with the overall series trophy, the individual event titles, and one of the last real form checks before the World Championships all being settled over three days of racing.
The entry list is large, especially in the men’s singles and doubles which has 35 and 26 crews, respectively. But the weekend is also shaped by absences. New Zealand, Romania, and Italy are all skipping Lucerne, which will create opportunities in events they had been dominating. The USA lead the overall standings on 67 points, 16 clear of the Netherlands on 51, with China (48) and Great Britain (40) in pursuit. A strong haul on home-stretch Sunday could reshape the table.
World Rowing’s scoring awards eight points for a win, six for second, five for third, and so on down to one point for seventh, with only the best-placed boat from each nation counting. That system punishes absence harshly. New Zealand’s decision not to travel will see them drop from the middle of the table, and the same goes for Romania and Italy.
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Titles on the Line
Only one of the individual Olympic-class series has already been locked up. New Zealand’s Oliver Welch and Benjamin Taylor cannot be caught: the reigning M2- world champions are undefeated this season, having won in Seville and Plovdiv. The other event titles remain open.
In the women’s single sculls, Lauren Henry of Great Britain has the clearest points edge after her Seville win. Plovdiv winner Jovana Arsic of Serbia is absent, as are the silver medallists from the first two rounds, Grace Joyce (USA) and Viktorija Senkute (Lithuania). Another strong result would all but wrap up the trophy for Henry.
Photo Chile’s Abraham sisters, Antonia (stroke) and Melita (bow) are in contention for a women’s pair title.
Samuel Melvin (USA), the Plovdiv winner, and Oliver Zeidler (Germany), who was dominant in Seville, head the men’s single sculls. Czechia (13 points) and Chile (11) lead the way in women’s pair, with the South American Abraham sisters needing gold to finish the set and take the event title. Romania lead the men’s four on 10 points, but Great Britain, the world champions, and China’s quick new crew are both on eight and are in the mix.
Henry’s Chance, Florijn’s Absence
The women’s single sculls had been billed as a three-way collision between European champion Henry, world champion Fiona Murtagh of Ireland, and Olympic champion Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands. But the Dutch federation confirmed that Florijn, who capsized after an equipment failure in her Seville heat, has withdrawn from Lucerne with a back injury. The coming weeks will determine whether she can recover in time for the home World Championships in Amsterdam. With Florijn out it becomes a two-way fight, albeit with a number of dark horses among the entry sheet who could spring an upset, not least Australian Olympian Tara Rigney.
Photo Lauren Henry checking on the competition in Seville.
The 24-year-old Henry, Olympic and world champion in the quad during the Paris cycle, won gold in Seville by 0.14 seconds over Senkute and has built a formidable season record. Murtagh, who switched to sculling after two Olympics and has a Tokyo bronze medal in the women’s four, won the world title in 2025 and took bronze in Seville.
France’s Emma Lunatti, who won silver in the women’s double in Lucerne last year, has withdrawn due to a rib injury, but the field still includes German Olympian Alexandra Foester, Switzerland’s Aurelia-Maxima Katharina Janzen, and Rigney, who is stepping up after winning the Seville B-final in her first outing since placing fourth at the Paris Olympics. As well as fellow Aussie and Paris W2-bronze medallist Annabelle McIntyre, who is set to make her sculling debut.
Traffic in the Men’s Single
The men’s single sculls is the deepest event of the regatta. After a commanding Seville win, Paris Olympic champion Zeidler, a three-time world and European champion, tops the list. Yauheni Zalaty (AIN), the Olympic silver medallist, has been just one step behind Zeidler in their last five meetings. Simon van Dorp (Netherlands), the Olympic bronze medallist, owns the 2,000m ergometer world record at 5:33.4, but has gone into the Dutch double with Melvin Twellaar for the World Championships. In Lucerne, both van Dorp and Twellaar are in the singles as a tune-up.
Photo German Olympic champion Oliver Zeidler.
The field also includes Plovdiv gold medallist Samuel Melvin (USA), Tristan Vandenbussche (Belgium), Bastian Secher (Denmark), and home sculler Kai Schätzle, who won the Varese World Cup in the double last year and now takes on the single internationally for the first time. Sadly, the Spanish sculler Aleix Garcia I Pujolar has withdrawn.
Britain’s Sweep Strength, Sculling Experiments
Great Britain arrive with 14 crews and 50 athletes. The men’s four of Dan Graham, James Robson, Douwe de Graaf, and George Bourne returns intact after winning Seville by more than five seconds. They are the reigning world champions and, on the evidence so far, the crew the rest are chasing.
“We’ve had a good block of training and conducted a small amount of testing off the back of a successful start in Seville with the Men’s Four and Eight,” said men’s head coach Paul Stannard.
Photo George Bourne who stroked the British men’s four to gold in Seville.
The men’s eight has two changes: Will Stewart and Matt Rowe slot into the bow pair, returning to the eight for the first time since winning world silver in Shanghai. The women’s eight and women’s four both race unchanged.
GB are making their sculling moves in the women’s boats. Imogen Grant, who won Paris Olympic gold in the lightweight women’s double sculls, returns from injury to stroke the women’s quad with Olympic champions Lola Anderson and Hannah Scott, plus Finn Stratton, whose senior debut in Seville brought silver. Sarah McKay, a 2025 world silver medallist in the quad, switches into the women’s double with Cam Nyland.
“I am looking forward to seeing how these boats perform,” said women’s head coach Andrew Randell of the new line-ups.
In the men’s double, Cal Berkeley’s Josh Knight makes his senior team debut alongside 2025 world silver medallist Matt Haywood.
Wide Open Without New Zealand
New Zealand’s absence opens up the men’s pair podium. Welch and Taylor were untouchable in Seville and Plovdiv, but with no Kiwis on the start list, Lucerne gold is up for grabs. It might still be headed to the southern hemisphere if Alex Hill and Angus Dawson get their way. The Australia 1 pairing looks impressive with 2020 Olympic champion Hill in the stroke seat.
The USA’s Pieter Quinton and Madison Molitor bring Olympic and world bronze credentials. Although the Americans are more familiar with the big boats, Paris M8+ bronze medallist Quinton placed fourth at the 2023 World Cup II in the pair. Similarly, Great Britain’s Matt Aldridge and Fergus Woolnough, both stepping out of the men’s eight, share 2025 European gold and world silver in that M8+ boat.
Home supporters will be cheering and clanking their cowbells for Switzerland’s Patrick Brunner and Jonah Plock, bronze medallists at last year’s Worlds.
Para Pressure
The PR1 men’s single sculls, which has nine entries, is among the weekend’s most eye-catching para events. Benjamin Pritchard, the Paralympic, world, and European champion, has just become the first PR1 athlete to go under seven minutes for 2000m on the erg. He renews his rivalry with Australian Erik Horrie, the winner of the 2025 Lucerne World Cup.
Photo Great Britain’s Benjamin Pritchard (centre) on the podium with Ukraine’s Roman Polianskyi (left) and Australia’s Erik Horrie (right).
“This year we will be joined for the first time by members of the GB Rowing Team Paralympic Programme,” said interim performance director Tom Dyson. “Everyone is eager to get racing again, and we must all capitalise on the opportunity to learn in the Games qualification venue for 2027 and 2028.”
The Rotsee will host the 2027 World Rowing Championships, making this weekend a test run as well as a competitive one. By Sunday evening, the World Cup winners will be crowned, new combinations will have been tested under pressure, and the programmes heading to Amsterdam in August will have a clearer sense of where they stand. Let’s go!
