Daily Digest | Day 1: A strong start to the 2026 World Rowing U19 Championships

The Under 19 Single Sculls looks set to be an extremely competitive event, given the quality of racing we have seen so far at the 2026 World Rowing Under 19 Championships.

The Single Sculls

In the Single Sculls, the most technical of the boat classes, we saw impressive composure and skill. In the five Women’s Single Sculls heats, Switzerland’s Olivia Leunig posted the fastest time of the day, winning her heat with a commanding time of 7:40.34. Leunig will be the hot favourite to progress even further. Thirteen more athletes broke the eight-minute barrier, with numerous tight finishes giving a preview of future battles to come.

In the Men’s Single Sculls, Norway’s Raphael Arkadiusz Pintsch posted a blistering time of 7:01.89. Plovdiv is known as a fast course, but even so, that time is good enough to have made the recent U23 Men’s Single Sculls A Final, let alone the U19 event. Nevertheless, there is plenty of competition, with Heat 2 and Heat 3 winners Belgium’s Sepp Driesen and Greece’s Iason Mouselimis only a couple of seconds behind.

The Pairs

In the Pairs, the Italian Under 19 Women’s European Rowing champions, Carolina Cassani and Letizia Martorana, made a good start by winning their heat, although the favourites are likely to be the 2025 World Rowing U19 Championships runners-up from Uzbekistan, Rayhon Sattorova and Aydana Smetullaeva, who posted the fastest time of the day to win their heat. Watch out also for the other heat winners from Romania, Jessica Popescu and Ariana Marina Balint, as well as Australia’s Piper Hallam and Emma Peele, who both posted top finishing times.

On the Men’s side, Germany’s Jan Kohlbach and Niclas Brell recorded the fastest time of the day in a very quick heat. Their gold medal credentials from the European Championships should give them confidence to be serious medal contenders. The Italians, Novak Mitrovic and Pietro Blasig, who came second in the same heat, posted the second-fastest time overall and will hope for a future rematch, having led for much of the race.

The Double Sculls

In the Double Sculls, the Under 19 Women’s field only had to race once, while the top-performing Men’s crews contested both the heats at the beginning of the day and the quarter-finals at the end, making recovery management essential. Individual Neutral Athletes Tatiana Cherkasova and Anastasiia Burovtseva posted the fastest time by some margin and will be a major threat, with a tight group of doubles behind them, led by Heat 4 winners Italy’s Francesca Sasso and Maria Lucrezia Dittamo.

Look out for New Zealand on the Men’s side, with Aidan Bennett and Charles Manser appearing in strong form, winning their quarter-final comfortably with the fastest time. However, Turkey’s Kaan Korkmaz and Muhammed Eren Aykut are also looking ambitious after recording a rapid quarter-final time.

The Fours

Across the three Under 19 Women’s Four heats, Romania was the only crew to break the seven-minute mark, with a time of 6:55.96, almost five seconds clear of the USA crew. Both will hope to earn medals later in the week. In the Under 19 Men’s Four heats, Spain and Germany posted the fastest times, over four seconds ahead of the rest of the semi-finalists, with the next six crews separated by just two seconds. A fierce battle awaits!

The Quadruple Sculls

Meanwhile, in the Quads, Romania, the Heat 3 winner in the Under 19 Women’s Quadruple Sculls and recent European bronze medallist, posted the time to beat with 6:35.65, followed by Germany and Poland. Judging by the finishing times, this category looks highly competitive for medals. In the Under 19 Men’s Quadruple Sculls, Heat 1 winners Germany posted the fastest time of the day with 6:02.99, followed by France and Italy.

The Eights

In the big boats, the Eights, the Under 19 Women’s Eights raced for lanes, with Romania earning the best lane, followed by Great Britain and Germany. In the Under 19 Men’s Eight, two heats were contested, with Great Britain winning Heat 1 in the fastest time of the day and Germany winning the second. Both, alongside Croatia, Romania and the USA, look well placed in the medal mix.

More quarter-finals and semi-finals next!

Tomorrow, alongside the minor finals, we play host to a range of quarter-finals and semi-finals as we edge closer to determining who the best U19 rowers in the world are. We can’t wait!