Plovdiv welcomed over 330 athletes from 22 nations to the first day of racing at the 2026 World Rowing Cup II. As is typical on this course, the conditions were quick; a gusty tailwind sped athletes to the finish line, but it chopped up the waters and tested their technique too. There were plenty of close races to entertain the Friday crowds, including a fierce qualification battle in the men’s doubles and fours, and a four-way finish in the first heat of the men’s single sculls.
Steady Progress in the Single Sculls
The 33-year-old Serbian, Jovana Arsic, dominated the first and fastest of the two women’s single sculls heats. A two-time Olympian in the single, Arsic spent last year in the pair but clearly hasn’t lost her sculling touch. Nearly ten seconds behind the Serb, China’s Wang Sixuan claimed the second automatic qualification spot. Ukraine’s Yevheniia Dovhodko finished third but will race in the B-final as her time was not quick enough to qualify for the medal race.
Heat 2 went to the American sculler Grace Joyce, who raced the double in Shanghai and made her Olympic debut in Paris in the quad. Joyce finished fourth in Varese last year, her best World Cup result to date, but will start Sunday’s A-final as a strong medal contender. Alice Prokesova (CZE), who held off Ukraine and the two Uzbek scullers, will also be eyeing a podium finish.
What is about outside lanes and Romanian scullers? They love it! European bronze medallist Mihai Chiruta (ROU) got his Plovdiv campaign off to a winning start by beating the Chilean sculler Andoni Habash Bajas, by two seconds, both men are safely through to tomorrow’s M1x semifinal. So too is David Sain of Croatia, albeit less safely, he took the last qualification spot by a mere 0.16 seconds ahead of Korea.
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First blood in the American M1x duel is inconclusive, let’s say. USA Olympic Jacob Plihal won the third heat but was just over a second slower than his fellow countryman Samuel Melvin, who placed second in heat 1. Melvin’s race was the tighter of the two. The ex-lightweight rowed down one of the two Uzbek scullers, Shakhboz Kholmurzaev (UZB2), and held off Turkey’s up-and-coming Cevdet Ege Mutlu, before falling to Pavel Sorin’s sprint. Sorin (UZB1) won by 0.13 seconds.
“It was good. It was my first time in the heavyweight single so I enjoyed it. The lake of course was so fast and windy but I like it. For me it was maybe the best conditions to start the season. I enjoyed it, I really had fun. I can’t wait for the semis,” said Gabriel Soares (ITA), speaking to World Rowing after finishing second in heat 3.
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Tricky Conditions for the Pairs
World champions Oliver Welch and Benjamin Taylor (NZL) were the day’s clearest winners in the men’s pair. They won their heat by ten seconds over Serbia, and their time was seven seconds faster than heat 1 winners Italy. Welch and Taylor are one of only four Seville World Cup medallists competing in Plovdiv: on their current form it is likely they will add another World Cup gold medal to their collection.
“It was fun. The conditions make the splits pretty fast. Craziest start I’ve ever had, every 15 seconds a giant gust would roll in from port side and knock us off 30 degrees, so paddling like crazy to get ourselves straight again,” Peter Chatain (USA2) told World Rowing.
The women’s pair shaped up as a more open contest. Teal Cohen and Kate Knifton (USA1), who are reigning world champions in the women’s four, were the fastest qualifiers, beating 2025 European silver medallists Italy in heat 2. Chile, bronze medallists in Seville two weeks ago, won the other heat ahead of Seville winners Czechia, though that race was run at a slower overall clip.
“The weather conditions are quite terrible, so we got some problems with the direction. But we make it, we didn’t catch any buoys, which is fine, but not a good feeling from this race. Hopefully it will get better. I am glad that the weather is not that hot, but the wind is strong, so it’s not suiting us. We are big strong girls, it’s not our weather,” said Anna Santruckova (CZE).
Highly Competitive Doubles Continue to Impress
The notoriously competitive men’s double sculls event has 19 entries at this regatta, making it the largest field in Plovdiv. Automatic qualification margins were narrow in all four heats. Finn Hamill and Benjamin Mason (NZL) posted the fastest time overall, followed by China 1’s new combination of Yi Xudi and Deng Zhiwei. Martin and Valent Sinkovic (CRO), the Rio 2016 champions who finished a disappointing 13th in Seville, qualified behind the leading Kiwi and Chinese crews. The brothers said they were still struggling to find their racing rhythm, according to World Rowing.
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China also opened well in the women’s double sculls. World Rowing Cup debutant Zhang Xinyu and partner Shen Shuangmei took a comfortable win in the first heat, ahead of Italy. The USA won the other heat, with New Zealand second.
“It’s the conditions we’ve been training in New Zealand. I remember saying months ago ‘I hope we get a choppy race at least once overseas’. Because we’ve been trying to train for this and Seville was glassy flat. It was nice to step on from Seville and feel like we’ve found our rhythm again and been able to train in that. The more we race and train the better it gets,” said Eva Hofmans (NZL).
Four Seconds Separate Six Fours
Less than four seconds separated all six men’s four finalists. China clocked the fastest time (5:48.41); Italy, Ukraine, Romania, New Zealand, and Uzbekistan join them in Sunday’s medal race. A new-look USA women’s four won their preliminary, with Seville bronze medallists New Zealand in second place.
Italian Quality and American Muscle Pave the Way in the Quads
Italy’s world champion men’s quadruple sculls crew controlled their preliminary from the get-go, building the margin in the opening 500m before easing off for the remainder. Czechia and China followed them through. The USA won the women’s quadruple sculls preliminary, with China second.
Early Show of Speed in the Plovdiv Preliminary Races
Five preliminary races got the day’s action underway, starting with two para sculling head-to-heads: Uzbekistan beat Turkey in both the PR2 Mix2x and PR3 Mix2x. The latter result coming from Uzbek teens Dinara Belyanina (17) and Akbarali Abduvaliev (16), the youngest competitors in Plovdiv, who recovered from an early crab to seal victory. They will hope to double down their winning performance in Sunday’s final.
Uzbekistan continued their momentum with two second place finishes in the lightweight men’s events. LM1x Firdavs Akhunov finished clear water behind Ukraine’s two-time Olympian Igor Khmara. Korea’s Jiseon Kim, who made her international debut in Shanghai last year, took the top spot on the women’s side. The best lightweight contest came in the LM2x, which saw Venezuela, who won silver in Seville, hold off the Uzbeks by half a second.
The medal races for the lightweights and the PR2 mixed double sculls will be contested tomorrow morning.
