Daily digest: Memorable A-finals and semifinal shocks

Day 2 of the 2026 World Rowing Cup III brought more sizzling temperatures and sizzling racing across the Olympic-class semifinals and the first A-finals.

First Lucerne gold to the USA

The USA rowed a solid race to take the win in the first final of the 2026 World Rowing Cup III, the PR3 mixed coxed four. They allowed Australia to lead out of the blocks before establishing an unbeatable rhythm and cruising to a very comfortable win. Ukraine got the better of Australia in the middle of the race and took second, with Australia third ahead of Spain.

Results: USA, UKR, AUS, ESP

USA coxswain Hannah Diaz said: “It was super fun, conditions were great. We just had a great middle 1k. The start was a little off, but we went with it, nailed the base, and had fun.”

Japan turn tables on Peru

Alessia and Valeria Palacios (PER) won the lightweight women’s double sculls preliminary and looked on track to repeat in the final – but Chika Yonezawa and Chiaki Tomita were not going to let that happen again. They moved through the Peruvians in the second half of the race to claim the lead and their first World Rowing Cup medals. Kazakhstan were third.

Results: JPN, PER, KAZ, HKG

Three boats, plenty of drama

Despite there being only three entries in the lightweight men’s double sculls, the final was close and exciting, with overlap between all three crews at the finish. India’s Lakshay and Ujjwal Kumar Singh made an incredible international debut with a fearless race, beating World Rowing Cup I victors Lam San Tung and Chan Tik Lung (HKG), who only just managed to hold on to second against the charge from the Netherlands’ Erik van Eijck van Heslinga and Ferik Ploeg. It was India’s first-ever World Rowing Cup gold medal.

Results: IND, HKG, NED

Another win for Lechuga

The lightweight women’s single sculls final featured all three medallists from World Rowing Cup I, and the same winner – Mexico’s Kenia Lechuga. The oldest and most experienced sculler in the field, Lechuga set a pace nobody else could match and left the field trailing in her wake. The race for second and third was between Winnie Hung (HKG), Isobel Clements (IRL) and Femke van de Vliet (NED1). Clements and Hung were level throughout much of the race, but van de Vliet put in a huge push in the last few hundred metres to take second, with Clements third and Hung missing out on the medals.

Results: MEX, NED1, IRL, HKG, URU, KOR1

Lechuga said: “It feels like hope. I want to do my best at the next World Rowing Championships, and I think this is the way.”

Chiu back on top

Chiu Hin Chun won his first World Rowing Cup medal here in Lucerne in 2024, and clearly enjoys the course. By halfway in the lightweight men’s single sculls final Chiu had opened up a decent lead, ahead of the chasing pack with Dutch scullers Jordy de Boer and Cornelus Palsma doing most of the running. Justin Schmidt (USA1) was also in contention, but nobody was touching Chiu. In the last 500m de Boer had dropped back and Schmidt was in bronze-medal position behind Palsma. That was how they crossed the line, to conclude today’s racing.

Results: HKG, NED1, USA1, NED2, EGY, USA2

Chiu said: “The last couple of weeks I go through ups and downs, so this medal is very meaningful to me.”

Swiss scullers celebrate finals

Both Swiss single scullers made it to their respective finals, starting off the semifinal session in style for the home crowd. Aurelia-Maxima Janzen was third in the women’s semifinal following a good middle 1000m, behind Tara Rigney (AUS) and world champion Fiona Murtagh (IRL), while Kai Schaetzle was second in his semifinal to Yauheni Zalaty (AIN) and ahead of Simon van Dorp (NED1).

Lauren Henry (GBR) was comfortably the fastest qualifier to the women’s final, while Oliver Zeidler (GER) looks dominant in the men’s event.

Sprint finishes in pairs

Sweden’s sprint finish took them into the men’s pair final after a thrilling race, with Greece almost catching semifinal 2 leaders the USA on the line as well. In the first semifinal, Australia 1 looked like the form crew, with Spain and Switzerland qualifying behind them.

In the women’s event, Mia Levy and Regina Salmons (USA2) overhauled World Rowing Cup leaders Czechia in the last 500m to claim the win; their teammates from USA1 also reached the final. Czechia will face Chile for the third time this season in a final as the Abraham sisters won semifinal 2, with France and Germany completing the final line-up.

Dutch and British on top in doubles

Roos de Jong and Benthe Boonstra (NED) and Joshua Knight and Matthew Haywood (GBR) maintained their strong performance in the double sculls, both qualifying comfortably for the final. The British men posted the fastest time of the two semifinals, with Belgium and the USA not far behind, while Serbia, Spain and France 2 made it through from semifinal 1.

The Dutch world champions were not the quickest boat in the women’s semifinals, but were more in control of the race than the second semifinal. That saw four boats charging together for the line; USA1 (Sophia Vitas and Emily Kallfelz) edged out USA2 and Poland, with Switzerland just 0.06 seconds out of contention.

Great Britain and France set up rematch

Great Britain won a comfortable victory at World Rowing Cup I in Seville in the men’s four, and seem on course to do the same after cruising to a semifinal win in Lucerne. However, they will again face an exciting French combination who are on good form, winning semifinal 1 over the USA1 and Romania. The USA2 and the Netherlands made it through from semifinal 2.

Germany find their groove, Dutch fastest

World Rowing Cup I winners Germany had a poor heat in the men’s quadruple sculls, but found their speed again in the semifinal to beat Great Britain to first place. Estonia had an excellent finish as they booked their place in the final. However, the Netherlands were a couple of seconds quicker to win semifinal 2, ahead of AIN and Australia.