Historic day in Shanghai as Dutch sweep eights

Saturday will go down as a historic day in rowing, with a string of landmark results for a host of nations.

The Netherlands go into the final day of competition on top of the medal table after winning both the men’s and women’s eights in style; Uruguay’s Felipe Kluver won a first-ever senior World Rowing Championships medal for his nation; and Great Britain’s Giedre Rakauskaite joined the greats of para-rowing with her sixth world title.

China add world title to Paralympic silver

China’s Liu Shuang and Jiang Jijian were second at the Paralympic Games last year, challenging eventual champions Great Britain hard through much of the race before slipping back in the sprint. On home waters, and with the British crew having retired, they had control from early on, producing an excellent middle 1000m to stretch out to a convincing lead. Paralympic bronze medallists Shahar Milfelder and Saleh Shahin (Israel) looked like they were set to win silver, but Germany’s European champions had other ideas. In the sprint, Jasmina Bier and Paul Umbach had enough to claim second place, decisively overturning the disappointment of missing out on Paris.

Jiang said: “I’m very happy, this is what I’ve wished for for a long time. I’m really happy to win this in front of my home crowd.”

Results: CHN, GER, ISR, FRA, BRA, UKR

Uzbekistan won the B-final comfortably, ahead of Mexico and Ireland.

Awesome British winning streak continues

Great Britain’s dominance in the PR3 mixed coxed four, and its predecessor, the LTA mixed coxed four, now stretches back 15 years, with their last defeat at any major championships being the 2010 World Rowing Championships. Their 11th straight world title in this boat class came with ease; they did not have the fastest start, but did have the fastest base pace and once they were in front, kept moving away. For two-seat Giedre Rakauskaite, it was a sixth world title (five in this boat class, one in the PR3 women’s pair), putting her level with Birgit Skarstein (Norway), Corne de Koning (Netherlands) and Naomi Riches (Great Britain) as one of the most successful para-rowers ever. China claimed an excellent silver medal and Germany took an unexpected bronze from lane 1, denying the USA.

Great Britain’s Edward Fuller said: “A massive thank you to all the support staff at British Rowing, they’ve been on it with the ice packs and ice vests just to keep our core temperature down when we’re out on the water. I don’t think it would have been possible to achieve what we achieved without their help.”

Results: GBR, CHN, GER, USA, ITA, BRA

Spain clinched the B-final win after a close race with Canada, who were dropped off the start but worked their way back level before losing the sprint.

Sechser takes first World Championship gold

Mexican Kenia Lechuga won silver in the lightweight women’s single sculls two years ago in Belgrade and after two World Rowing Cup wins this season wanted to add the world title to her collection. But she had to settle for bronze, after paying for a lightning-fast first 1000m in the second half of the race. The USA’s Michelle Sechser took her first world title at 38 years old, after two previous silvers and a bronze in the lightweight women’s double sculls, sculling through Lechuga in the third quarter and then holding off the charge from China’s Pan Dandan. Pan’s sprint for silver means China win their first-ever medal in this boat class.

Sechser said: “It’s a big transition moving from the double to the single. It’s a whole different world to just be out there, just you and your boat. It’s a new challenge just to pull for yourself and pull for everyone who’s on land cheering for you.”

Results: USA, CHN, MEX, IRL, AUT, AIN

Canada’s Karissa Riley rowed a confident B-final to take seventh overall, with Femke van Vliet (Netherlands) finishing eighth.

Kluver makes history for Uruguay

Felipe Kluver is a rising star in lightweight rowing, making history again and again for Uruguay. He was the first Uruguayan rower to win a World Rowing Under 23 Championships, winning the lightweight men’s single sculls in 2023; this year, he was the first to win a World Rowing Cup gold; and now he is Uruguay’s first-ever senior World Rowing Championships medallist. And that is gold too. Kluver stayed patient as Julian Schoeberl (Austria) overhauled the early lead of under 23 champion Halil Kaan Koroglu (Türkiye). The Uruguayan’s push through 1500m took him through a fading Schoeberl quickly, and he crossed the line with clear water. Schoeberl clung on for Austria’s first medal in this boat class since 1985, with Jake McCarthy (Ireland) adding bronze to that won by his brother Fintan in the men’s double sculls on Friday.

Kluver said: “I am so happy, I worked so hard. Thank you to my whole team, everybody in Uruguay that helped me, supported me, it is unbelievable.”

Results: URU, AUT, IRL, GER, CHN, TUR

Chiu Hin Chun (Hong Kong China) rowed down the fast-starting, high-rating Shakhzod Nurmatov (Uzbekistan) to win the B-final. Nurmatov was second.

Dutch continue stellar regatta with women’s eight gold

More history was made in the women’s eights. The Netherlands have never previously won a gold medal in this boat class, and after outstanding performances in the women’s quadruple sculls and women’s double sculls, they added their first sweep medal on Saturday. They led from the first stroke, leaping to a big lead that nobody could catch – even the Romanians with their trademark sprint. Romania were, however, the only boat that could stay in touch, sitting in second throughout the race. Great Britain had to come from behind to take their first women’s eight medal since 2011 – another bronze – pipping Germany by 0.17 seconds after the fastest second half in the field.

The Netherlands’ Ymkje Clevering said: “It was very nice that we still had another chance (to win a medal after missing out in the four). We really took it with both hands and we were saying the only chance to beat the Romanians is to start and see how far we come, just don’t let it be in the last 500. We could see everybody, so that was very, very nice.”

Results: NED, ROU, GBR, GER, USA, AUS

Canada won the B-final with a strong row; Italy were second for eighth place overall.

Dutch make it two in a row

A stellar regatta for the Netherlands continues with the win in the men’s eights. Like their women, the men shot out of the blocks after the race was restarted due to a technical issue on the first attempt, and quickly established a lead which nobody could close. The USA and Great Britain were the only crews to really stay in touch, sitting a length down for most of the race with the USA just in front of the defending champions; in the closing 500m it was the British who found an extra gear and took silver, with the USA finishing third, 0.16 seconds down.

Jan van der Bij (Netherlands) said: “The young stars made the difference. We had a very experienced coach and team around us, kept our heads calm and just focused on the race. We had a good first heat and then you don’t want to be too celebrating. So we just kept our heads down and grinding for the next race. Then like this, getting out there, it’s just amazing.”

Results: NED, GBR, USA, AUS, ITA, POL

Germany shrugged off their poor heat to take seventh overall with a good row in the B-final.