Hot weather and hot racing on day 1 in Varese

The first day of the 2025 World Rowing Cup in Varese, Italy, got underway in hot, humid conditions – and produced a series of close races.

The new progression system, which sees crews through to the next round based on time if they fail to take one of the top two spots in each heat, brought plenty of tight finishes. The men’s pairs heats proved particularly exciting as the two Dutch boats sprinted into automatic qualifying, and Olympic champions Martin and Valent Sinkovic were almost edged out.

Racing continues on Saturday 14 June with minor finals in 10 events, followed by semifinals. In the afternoon session, the first six A-finals of the 2025 World Rowing Cup season will be contested.

Horrie and Perini renew rivalry

The second heat of the PR1 men’s single sculls produced a good contest between Paralympic bronze medallist Erik Horrie (Australia) and European bronze medallist Giacomo Perini (Italy). Both know the Varese water well, as Horrie has been training just a short distance up the lake for the past few weeks. The two were neck and neck in their heat, with ultimately taking the win. Mexico’s Michel Munoz won heat 1 comfortably in the absence of Paralympic and European champion Benjamin Pritchard (Great Britain), who withdrew on medical grounds.

Lightweight singles enjoy close racing

Lightweight women’s single sculls European champion Lara Tiefenthaler (Austria) took heat 1 of the event in Varese, once again in a tight race with Maia Lund of Norway. Mexican Kenia Lechuga won heat 2 in a time that was 0.28 seconds quicker than Tiefenthaler, setting up a great final. Hong Kong’s Hin Chun Chiu won heat 1 of the lightweight men’s single sculls, while Felipe Kluver of Uruguay was able to chill out after a blistering start in heat 1. Italy’s Borgonovo brothers were second and third fastest overall, after both won silver medals at the 2024 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.

Twellar and van Dorp looking strong

Both Dutch scullers and both Belgian scullers made it through to the men’s single sculls quarterfinals, with Olympic bronze medallist Simon van Dorp and his teammate Melvin Twellaar winning their races. Belgians Tim Brys and Gaston Mercier finished second to the two Dutchmen. New Zealander Logan Ullrich grabbed a semifinal spot with a sprint finish in his second-ever singles race, while Jacob Plihal (USA) and Jonas Slettemark Juel of Norway won the other two quarterfinals.

In the women’s single sculls, Great Britain’s European champion Lauren Henry was comfortably ahead in her heat and on time, making her the clear favourite in this event. 2022 Asian Games champion and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games silver medallist Anna Prakaten (Uzbekistan) rowed a solid race to beat Asian Games silver medallist Riuqi Liu (China) in their heat, while all three scullers from Germany, Canada and the USA progress to the semifinals after a close heat 3.

Sibling strength and Dutch sprints in pairs

European silver and bronze medallists Italy won their heat of the women’s pairs to go straight to the semifinals, with Chile winning a battle of two crews of twin sisters to take second ahead of Croatia. In heat 2, the Netherlands beat the British European bronze medallists on the line, but both progressed automatically and were the fastest two boats in the event. In the men’s event, both Dutch pairs unleashed superb sprints to claim top-two finishes in their heats. Olympic champions Martin and Valent Sinkovic were outsprinted in their heat, but progressed behind Denmark, while their compatriots Anton and Patrik Loncaric won their race. But New Zealand were the fastest crew overall in a tight field.

Men’s doubles continue to showcase lightweight skill

As at the European Rowing Championships, former lightweight rowers showed the way in the men’s double sculls. The three fastest boats all contained ex-lightweights – Raphael Ahumada for Switzerland, Finn Hamill for New Zealand, and Niels Torre and Gabriel Soares for Italy. Poland were the other heat winners. On the women’s side, the Netherlands’ new combination of Olympic medallists Roos de Jong and Benthe Boonstra were clearly the quickest boat, winning heat 1; China took the victory in heat 2.

Evergreen Hill leading Australian charge

Alex Hill, Olympic champion in the men’s four from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, is leading a new combination this year, and they are quick, winning their heat ahead of the Netherlands’ second boat. Great Britain and Netherlands 1 won heats 2 and 3 respectively, while there was joy for Italy’s Vicino family as twins Luca and Marco and older brother Giuseppe, along with crewmate Leonardo Pietra Caprina, progressed. Australia also won the first heat of the women’s fours, but the USA’s two boats looked impressive in leading heat 2 in the fastest two times of the day. Great Britain, the Netherlands 2, and New Zealand also reached the final.

Netherlands and Poland set the standard in the quads

The quadruple sculls heats finished the morning session. A new Dutch combination looked as hot as the weather winning heat 2 of the women’s event, a clear seven seconds faster than heat 1 winners Germany. China 1 were eliminated. European champions Great Britain won heat 1 in the men’s quadruple sculls, but a revamped Polish crew was flying in heat 2, taking the win ahead of a competitive Italian quad. Both the Polish and Italian second boats also progressed to the final, alongside the Netherlands, with the times suggesting an exciting race in store on Sunday.

Britain on top in eights prelims

European champions Great Britain won both the men’s and women’s eights preliminary races. The British women led from start to finish with the USA working back from fifth at the first marker to second on the line, ahead of Australia. In the men’s race, Italy 1 were quickest to 500m before Great Britain pulled through to take first place, followed home by Germany. Italy 1 were third and Italy 2 fourth.