The defending fours champions arrive in Duisburg with very different line-ups. Great Britain’s women retain Ellie-Kate Hutchinson, who hunts a hat trick of Under-23 world titles, while the United States have replaced their entire gold-medal-winning men’s four.
Photo USA BM4- 2025 World Under-23 champions: lyle Donovan, Samuel Sullivan, Wilson Morton, and Ryan Martin.
Old heads versus young legs? The turnover adds complexity to two competitive fields at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships, held from 23 to 26 July. Sixteen men’s fours and 15 women’s fours will race on Duisburg’s Wedau Regatta Course.
Men’s Four: Champions Rebuilt
The USA won convincingly in 2025, ahead of Spain, with Romania taking bronze just 0.12 seconds ahead of Great Britain. None of the American champions returns in the 2026 boat, although its replacement crew carries plenty of age-group experience.
Yale lightweight captain Timothy Parsons makes his sixth US national-team appearance and fourth consecutive Under-23 Worlds, but his first international regatta as a sweep rower. Kian Aminian and Jordan Dykema reunite after winning JM8+ bronze together at the 2022 Under-19 Worlds, while Gonzaga Human Physiology student Toby Finn makes his international debut. Aminian also won BM8+ silver in 2024.
Great Britain have rebuilt around Ben Mead, Tristan Wenger and Cameron Tasker, members of the 2025 world-champion BM8+. Marcus Chute, racing at his third Under-23 Worlds after appearances in the quad and pair, strokes the crew. The combination is new, with substantial championship experience.
Photo USA BM4- 2025
Hosts Germany combine younger rowers with proven performers. Two-time Under-19 bronze medallist Georg Rieck steps up to Under-23 competition alongside former junior-eight teammate Jakob Knapp. Johannes Benien won BM8+ bronze last year, while Maximilian Brill brings a 2024 Under-19 silver and experience from the 2025 BM4- A-final.
Italy is chock-full of medal winners. Jacopo Cappagli has made the podium at each of his four international championships, although gold has proved elusive; not so for his teammate Leonardo Sostegni who won the European JM4- title in 2023 and the world Under-19 crown one year later.
China tested their crew in the 2026 World Rowing Cup series. They won World Cup II in Plovdiv before sliding down the rankings at the more competitive Lucerne Regatta, but still finished with a C-final win.
Chile will hope to benefit from a consistent line-up. They retain three members of their 2025 crew and add former pair rower Martin Alonso Arcos Oyarzun.
Women’s Four: Hutchinson Seeks Third Title
Great Britain led throughout last year’s final and beat Romania by more than three seconds, with New Zealand taking bronze ahead of Spain. Hutchinson is the only returning member of that British four, having also won BW8+ gold in 2024.
She is joined by Syracuse teammate Acorn Cassidy, a 2024 Under-19 silver medallist in the four, and Texas rowers Rhiannon Luke and Amelia Gleed. Luke won Under-19 four silver in 2023, while Gleed makes her international debut. The British squad contains 23 Under-23 debutants across its 10 boats.
Photo ROU BW4- 2025
Romania return with four medallists from the 2025 European Under-23 Championships. Iulica-Maria Ursu and Denisa Cristina Ailincai formed the stern pair of the European champion BW4-, giving last year’s world silver medallists established speed in the boat class.
Spain retain Aina Arteman I Castaner and Emma Alimbau Borras from the crew that missed world bronze by less than one second. Coastal mixed-double world champion Amanda Gil Camacho joins alongside her World Rowing Cup II pairs partner Lidi Florido Rodriguez.
Photo GBR BW4- 2025: Madeleine Greenstock, Imogen Cabot, Ellie-Kate Hutchinson, and Jessica Martin.
The USA seek their first major result in this event since winning in 2022. Claire van Praagh, Phoebe Wise, Annika Jeffery and Ella Wheeler all own Under-19 gold medals, with two-time 2025 champion van Praagh the most recent winner.
Austria may threaten after finishing sixth at World Rowing Cup II in Plovdiv. Their crew closely resembles the boat that won European Under-23 silver last year, with Maria Hauser replacing Hannah Keplinger at bow. The Netherlands return after skipping the 2025 event, led by reigning BW2- world champion Elisabeth Boone.
