2025 World Rowing Championships: Mixed Crews to Watch

For the first time at a World Rowing Championships, Shanghai will play host to mixed events – and both the mixed double sculls and mixed eights have attracted strong entries from around the world. All athletes are doubling up in other events at the regatta, save for some of the coxswains in the mixed eight.

Here are the crews to watch.

Mixed double sculls (Mix2x)

Entries: 11

Based purely on the number of international medals they hold between them, the Netherlands’ Roos de Jong and Melvin Twellaar surely start the mixed double sculls as the favourites. Both Olympic silver medallists from Paris, they have a combined 10 world and Olympic medals and bags of sculling experience – although Twellaar is doubling up in the men’s four.

There are plenty of other intriguing entries. Romanian husband-and-wife team Andrei and Ioana Cornea will know each other best, but will that lead to victory? The New Zealand and Swiss entries are both young but talented duos: New Zealand have entered Kathryn Glen and Benjamin Mason, while Switzerland race with Celia Dupre and Raphael Ahumada, both fourth at the Olympics last year. Irish ex-lightweights Fintan McCarthy and Margaret Cremen could be dangerous. And China is counting on 22-year-old Liu Baishun to back up two-time world champion Chen Yunxia.

Mixed eight (Mix8+)

Entries: 10

In the debut of the mixed eight at a World Rowing event, at the 2025 World Rowing Cup in Varese, victory went to the USA after a neck-and-neck contest with Germany, with Italy third. All three nations have entered crews again as the event makes its World Rowing Championships bow. However, the USA and Italian boats are an entirely different combinations to that which raced in Varese, save for their coxswains, while several members of the German crew are back to see if they can get their bows in front this time around.

On paper, the Romanian and Dutch crews arguably look the strongest entrants, packed with international medallists. Romania’s powerful women’s pair of Simona Radis and Maria Magdalena Rusu are set to sit in the stern, bringing all their experience of winning eights races to the table. But there is also tons of eights experience in the Dutch boat.

Excitingly, Switzerland have also entered a mixed eight – and while every other crew will be coxed by someone who is used to that seat, it is former lightweight Olivia Nacht who takes the reins for the Swiss in addition to racing in the women’s quadruple sculls earlier in the regatta.