Race Report | Day 4: Epic racing concludes a successful 2026 World Rowing Under 19 Championships

Six more World Rowing Under 19 Champion crews were crowned, including the introduction of the thrilling Under 19 Mixed Double Sculls and Eight, as once again Plovdiv successfully hosts athletes from across the world

After four B Finals, the 2026 World Rowing Under 19 Championships concluded with six podium races and plenty of action.

Under 19 Men’s Eight

Great Britain’s pedigree shines yet again as they successfully defend their title. Great Britain came in with strong form having reached the A Final with the fastest time, and won convincingly just outside the World Best Time.

USA were delighted to grab silver from the outside lane, with Germany taking bronze. Croatia finished fourth with Italy sixth. Romania found the competition tough, coming fifth despite being the European Champions, although that title was won without Great Britain in the field.

GBR USA GER CRO ROU ITA

Under 19 Women’s Single Sculls

This turned into a close battle for silver and bronze but wow what a row from Italy!

Their supporters on the stands went wild as Italy’s Alizee Ribolzi made a massive statement to become Under 19 World Champion in the Women’s Single Sculls with a convincing margin. Ribolzi took an early lead from around the 800-metre mark and never looked back.

Switzerland’s Olivia Leunig pulled clear of the other chasers to take silver after a steady start, while Greece’s Paschalina Mouratidou narrowly edged Germany’s Leoni Hauschild to claim bronze by just one hundredth of a second!

Individual Neutral Athlete Viktoryia Halaskok finished fifth, followed by the People’s Republic of China’s Yufei Guan in sixth. Special credit to Guan, who has a very bright future ahead of her. At just 16, she was by some margin the youngest athlete in the line-up.

ITA SUI GRE GER AIN2 CHN

Under 19 Women’s Eight

An “inferno pace”, as described by the commentators, saw Romania power ahead of Germany from the second 500 quarter onwards. As Romania crossed the finish line, once again some of the rowers already had their flags ready to celebrate.

Germany produced a very spirited row, however, managing to get overlap with Romania and earning a well-deserved silver. Great Britain should be delighted with bronze, holding off an assertive Italy, while USA finished fifth.

ROU GER GBR ITA USA

Under 19 Men’s Single Sculls

Greece’s Iason Mouselimis takes gold, producing a fantastic row to add another major title to his collection alongside his European gold. Mouselimis established a decent lead as the race entered its final stages, with Norway’s Raphael Arkadius Pintsch chasing hard behind. Pintsch took silver, while Belgium’s Sepp Driesen will be thrilled to come away with bronze. Germany’s Oskar Mueller, while sporting a very nice World Rowing bucket hat, finished fourth, with Switzerland’s Remy Christ fifth and Lithuania’s Ivar Liepis sixth.

GRE NOR BEL GER SUI LTU

Under 19 Mixed Double Sculls

A debut event, Germany’s Anori Laurin Benz and Kaya Woelk took the opportunity with relish, taking an early lead, but the race tightened considerably towards the finish. Germany held their nerve to take gold and become the first World Rowing Under 19 Champions in this event. Italy’s Roberta Romani and Elia Bressan came through strongly to take silver, ahead of Hungary’s Marton Mezos and Janka Demko, who secured bronze. Romania finished fourth, Moldova fifth and Ukraine sixth.

GER ITA HUN ROU MDA UKR

Under 19 Mixed Eight

The final race of the day featured Italy, USA, Romania and Germany, with an equal split between male and female athletes. It was fascinating to see the different combinations of male and female athletes across the crews in this event. USA opted to combine their Men’s and Women’s Fours, with their female athletes comprising the bow four. Germany took a different approach, with Charlotte Paulat at stroke.

And it was Germany who had the length and smoothness to win the final gold medal of the day, taking the inaugural Under 19 Mixed Eight title in convincing fashion. Romania took silver, while USA claimed bronze. Italy therefore missed out on the podium.

GER ROU USA ITA

We will be returning to Plovdiv soon!

As we close the 2026 World Rowing Under 19 Championships, World Rowing President Jean-Christophe Rolland presented two Medals of Honour to Vessela Letcheva, President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee, and Mihail Vantchev, an OC volunteer for 15 years and Media Operations and Volunteer Manager and reflected on how high the quality of rowing there was this week.

Therefore, we are delighted to be returning next year, when Plovdiv will once again be in action, hosting the 2027 World Rowing Under 23 and Under 19 Championships.