Why the Men’s Double Sculls Could be the Most Exciting Event at the 2026 Worlds in Amsterdam

Every event at the 2026 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam will be hotly contested, but there is one which has the ingredients, personalities and rivalries to make it even more exciting than the rest – the men’s double sculls.

Not only is this one of the most popular events, with 29 entries (only the men’s single sculls have more), but at each of the four senior regattas held this year, there has been a different winner. Positions have shifted through the season, and while a few crews have consistently shown they can reach the podium, others have flamed bright then struggled at the next event.

Predicting the winners in Amsterdam is challenging, but it will be a great ride to find out who will triumph in the end.

The Consistent Crews

Just two boats have made every A-final they have raced this season so far, and therefore come into the World Championships with the most consistency. Top of the heap, and probably the narrow favourites for the title based on their season’s results, are 2025 silver medallists Serbia – Nikolaj Pimenov and Martin Mackovic.

Pimenov and Mackovic have raced together for five years now, first combining for the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in 2021 and coming seventh at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. They were second behind the impressive Poles in Shanghai, and this season have chalked up bronze at World Rowing Cup I, silver at World Rowing Cup II, and gold at the 2026 European Rowing Championships. They also won the Double Sculls Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta along the way.

The other boat to have consistently reached the top six is Spain’s Caetano Horta and Rodrigo Conde, in their first season as a crew. Horta is a former lightweight who was the under-23 lightweight men’s single sculls champion in 2024, while Conde was the world silver medallist in the men’s double sculls back in 2022 alongside Aleix Garcia, now in the single. After two fourth-place finishes at the World Cups, the Spaniards picked up European silver – are they peaking when it matters?

Burning Hot & Cold

A crew that has caught everyone’s attention this year is Belgium. Tibo Vyvey and Aaron Andries announced their partnership with a brilliant silver at the World Rowing Cup I in Seville and then went on to win gold in Lucerne.

“We didn’t expect it at all; we had some exams last week, so we were totally not focused on this World Cup,” Vyvey said after the race.

The duo stands out on the podium by being considerably shorter than the likes of the Serbs, but they show that size doesn’t stop a crew from being fast. However, they failed to fire at the European Championships, ending up seventh overall.

It has also been an interesting season for the most experienced crew out there – Valent and Martin Sinkovic of Croatia. The Rio 2016 Olympic champions in this boat class last raced in the double scull for the 2023 season and scooped world silver but then switched back to sweep for the next three years.

In Seville, the Sinkovics finished a disappointing 13th, joking on social media they had spent too much time sightseeing. Two weeks later, they were back on top in Plovdiv, adding yet another gold medal to their extensive collection and doing it in the sixth-quickest time in history (6:00.97, just over 1.2 seconds slower than their own world best time set at the 2014 Worlds in Amsterdam). Martin said, with a grin: “We are not dead!”

And the brothers are certainly not dead, winning European bronze behind Serbia and Spain. They are exceptionally good at getting their races right when it matters. A medal in Amsterdam would be the Sinkovics’ 10th world medal, 16 years after their first. You can’t count them out, but neither is success a given in this packed field.

Ready to Grab a Chance

A bit like the Sinkovics, New Zealand’s Benjamin Mason and Finlay Hamill bounced back from disappointment in Seville to success in Plovdiv – winning silver behind Croatia. Last season, Mason and Hamill reached the podium in both World Cups they raced but then ended up eighth in Shanghai. They are more than capable of challenging for a medal.

Great Britain’s crew of Matt Haywood and Joshua Knight were seriously impressive in the early rounds in Lucerne, but in the final faded in the final 500m and slipped to fifth. If they can sort out their finish, they could also be contenders.

Romania’s Marian Enache is the reigning Olympic champion in the men’s double sculls, and he and Andrei Lungu finished fourth at the European Championships in the first test of a new combination. If their build-up has gone well, Romania could also be in the mix for the medals.

Italy have also shaken up their crew, with Matteo Sartori jumping out of the eight into the double alongside Niels Torre for Amsterdam. Both men have had decent results in the double in the past – just not together – so if this combination clicks, expect them to be quick.

The under-23 world champions Portugal may also be in the picture. Seventh in Seville, they are definitely rising talents and have proven they can beat the best when they’re on form.

And Not Forgetting …

Last but not least – and very possibly first when it matters – are the Dutch. Racing on home water, and bringing absolutely tons of top-level racing experience, Melvin Twellaar and Simon van Dorp looked very good winning World Rowing Cup I in their first competitive outing together. Twellaar, of course, was the 2023 world champion and Olympic silver medallist in the double alongside Stef Broenink, and van Dorp has been one of the standout single scullers in recent years.

After their victory in Seville, Twellaar said: “Of course I already knew how competitive this field is. It’s a really nice field to row, and I’m really happy with it.” He added that if he can find the “right buttons”, van Dorp is the best teammate in the world; Amsterdam will determine if that is in fact the case.

So, despite only having a few pieces against the rest of the world under Twellaar and van Dorp’s belts, it would surprise very few not to see orange in the mix for gold on Friday 28 August.