Monday Debrief: "Threepeats" and Clean sweeps in Trakai

Across the 12 blistering finals at the 2025 World Rowing Under 19 Championships in Trakai, a total of 15 nations picked up medals with seven nations claiming World Championship titles. Here’s some of the highlights…

Women’s pair dynasty

Romania is no stranger to a women’s pair final, and this Championships was no exception. Teodora Lehaci and Denisa Mihaela Vasilica impressed throughout the competition and timed their race to perfection in the final. Whilst they didn’t have the fastest of starts, they came through to cross the line to claim the first gold medal of the Championships and defend Romania’s title in this boat class.

Great Britain sweep up in men’s sweep

The British showed absolute dominance in Trakai securing World Under 19 Championship titles in all three men’s sweep events. The first of those was the men’s pair. Patrick Wild and Alp Karadogan, both of whom were racing at the World Rowing U19 Champonships for the third consecutive year sat behind the Australians the whole way in the final and only moved into the lead in the final quarter of the race. It appeared for a moment just before the line that they might have run out of steam, but they did enough to secure the gold.  Wild said;

“At the 500 to go, we were like ‘let’s just do this, let’s get this gold medal.’ I started to blow in the last 5 strokes but we managed to hold on and honestly, I’m speechless.”

The last time GB won gold in the men’s pair at a junior championships was in 1988 with Tim Foster and Matt Pinsent. And talking of Matt Pinsent, he was in the grandstand in Trakai….

Fewest entries, but no less dramatic

The women’s eight had just six entries and it was clear from the preliminary race at the start of the Championships that it was going to be an exciting final to watch. Australia, who had come sixth in the preliminary race flew out of the start, and took everyone by surprise. They were still leading at halfway. But, in the second half, the British made their move, and took control, despite constant challenges from the USA. It was gold for GB.  Speaking after the race, Eve Pinsent, daughter of Matt, said:

“It feels really good. We’re really grateful to all of the people that got us here. Our coach, Dan – such a legend, all of our home coaches who believed in us and helped us get here. It’s a really great feeling that we’ve got a whole village behind us, getting us here.”

Lykomitrou adds to rowing CV

The Greek sculler Varvara Lykomitrou is familiar with a medal podium already. Having won European and World U19 gold in the double scull last year, she mixed it up this season and has now become European and World U19 champion in the single scull as well as World U23 champion in the double scull just a few weeks ago.

Coached by the infamous Giovanni Postglione, Varvara was second to the equally-impressive Spanish sculler Esther Fuerte Chacon for the first half of the final, but made her move in the second half and overhauled the Spaniard, eventually crossing the line with a clear water advantage. This young sculler will definitely be one to watch in the future!

The closest of photo finishes

From the single scull to the quadruple sculls, and the closest race of the Championships, the final of the women’s boat class. A race where the front three boats were exchanging the lead every single stroke – Czechia, Great Britain and Poland. Whilst Poland had claimed the victory, the crew adding to their title of European U19 champions, there was an agonising wait whilst the photo finish was studied to confirm the result for the silver medal. Czechia and Great Britain both had exactly the same time, but the analysis of the photo confirmed that the silver had gone to Czechia. They don’t come much closer than that!

“Threepeat” for Germany

Whilst Poland had matched their success from the European U19 Championships in the women’s quad, it wasn’t to be the same story for the men who came up against incredibly strong opposition from Germany. Whilst the German crew hadn’t been at the Europeans, and indeed were all making their international debut, the crew were on a mission; to defend their country’s title. After a decisive move at the halfway marker, the Germans looked dominant and crossed the line with clear water ahead of Italy. It was the third consecutive year that Germany had won this boat class.

And so to next year…

The closing ceremony saw the flag handed over to representatives of the next edition of the World Rowing U19 Championships. Plovdiv, Bulgaria will look forward to welcoming the best U19 rowers from around the world 5-9 August 2026.