Crew Line-Ups Confirmed for Inaugural World Rowing Shanghai Sprints

The crews are set for the inaugural World Rowing Shanghai Sprints, with seven national teams and a World Team ready to go head-to-head over 500m in the heart of Shanghai on 26–27 September. Olympic and World Champions will join emerging stars in a new knockout format designed to bring elite rowing closer to fans.

LAUSANNE – With less than three weeks to go until the inaugural World Rowing Shanghai Sprints, World Rowing can now reveal the crew lineups set to race in the sport’s newest international showcase.

The eight teams – the Netherlands, Great Britain, China, Romania, Ireland, United States, Germany, and the World Team – will compete across women’s and men’s single sculls, women’s and men’s double sculls, mixed doubles and the mixed eight.

Racing will take place over a fast-paced 500m course in downtown Shanghai, with crews going head-to-head in a knockout format designed to deliver high-intensity racing and a new experience for athletes and fans.

Elite Crews, New Combinations

The Shanghai Sprints will bring together some of rowing’s biggest names, with Olympic and World Champions lining up alongside some of the sport’s rising stars.

Germany will be led by reigning men’s single sculls World and Olympic Champion Oliver Zeidler, who will compete in both the men’s single sculls and the mixed double sculls with Alexandra Foester. The World Team, lead by two-time World Rowing Coach of the Year Gianni Postiglione, features World and Olympic champion Stefanos Ntouskos of Greece (men’s single sculls), who will also double up in the mixed double sculls with Lithuanian Olympic medallist Viktorija Senkute. Senkute will also compete for the World Team in the women’s single sculls.

The Netherlands, who come out of the 2026 World Rowing Championships at the top of the medal table, will field a strong squad including World Championship medallists Roos de Jong, Benthe Boonstra and Finn Florijn. De Jong and Boonstra, silver medallists in the women’s double sculls, will face tough competition in that boat class from World Champions Zoe Hyde and Margaret Cremen of Ireland.

Great Britain brings a mix of established international performers and emerging talent and will field their first-ever mixed double and mixed eight in Shanghai. China, Romania, and the United States complete a field drawn from some of the world’s strongest rowing nations.

The World Team | Rowing Without Borders

One of the Shanghai Sprints’ unique features is the World Team, which brings together elite athletes from countries that did not qualify a complete national team.

Representing Greece, Lithuania, New Zealand, France, Serbia, Switzerland, and China, the World Team reflects rowing’s global reach and creates combinations that would not normally compete together.

The team includes Ntouskos, Senkute, New Zealanders Benjamin Taylor and Oliver Welch, French rowers Emma Cornelis and Hezekia Peron, Serbian Olympians Martin Mackovic and Nikolaj Pimenov, Swiss rowers Salome Ulrich and Fabienne Schweizer, and Chinese coxswain Zhiwei Sun.

Shanghai Sprints | Rowing Racing Reimagined

The Shanghai Sprints will feature 88 athletes across eight teams, racing in a compact, spectator-friendly format designed to showcase the speed, power and personalities of rowing.

Each team will field crews in six boat categories: women’s single sculls, men’s single sculls, women’s double sculls, men’s double sculls, mixed double sculls and the mixed eight.

With racing staged in the heart of one of the world’s most dynamic cities, the event is designed to take rowing beyond its traditional venues and introduce the sport to new audiences.

World Rowing President Jean-Christophe Rolland said the calibre of athletes competing in Shanghai underlines the excitement surrounding the new event.

“Bringing together this collection of athletes to the heart of one of the world’s most dynamic cities creates a stage where elite competition meets the people in an urban setting. This is about more than racing—it is about taking rowing beyond its traditional venues, connecting with new fans, and putting the spotlight directly on our sport.”

Meet the Crews

United States

Women’s Single Sculls
Sophia Vitas

Men’s Single Sculls
Samuel Melvin

Women’s Double Sculls
Bow: Isabela Darvin
Stroke: Grace Joyce

Men’s Double Sculls
Bow: Jacob Plihal
Stroke: Cedar Cunningham

Mixed Double Sculls
Bow: Sophia Vitas
Stroke: Cedar Cunningham

Mixed Eight
Bow: Isabela Darvin
2: Grace Joyce
3: Teal Cohen
4: Cedar Cunningham
5: Jacob Plihal
6: Christopher Carlson
7: Samuel Sullivan
Stroke: Kaitlin Knifton
Coxswain: Cristina Castagna

Great Britain

Women’s Single Sculls
Hannah Scott

Men’s Single Sculls
Callum Dixon

Women’s Double Sculls
Bow: Heidi Long
Stroke: Imogen Grant

Men’s Double Sculls
Bow: Cedol Dafydd
Stroke: George Bourne

Mixed Double Sculls
Bow: Hannah Scott
Stroke: Callum Dixon

Mixed Eight
Bow: Imogen Grant
2: Eleanor Brinkhoff
3: Sarah Marshall
4: Douwe de Graaf
5: Cedol Dafydd
6: Harry Geffen
7: George Bourne
Stroke: Heidi Long
Coxswain: Jack Tottem

Germany

Women’s Single Sculls
Alexandra Föster

Men’s Single Sculls
Oliver Zeidler

Women’s Double Sculls
Bow: Lisa Gutfleisch
Stroke: Sarah Wibberenz

Men’s Double Sculls
Bow: Felix Heinrich
Stroke: Tom Gränitz

Mixed Double Sculls
Bow: Alexandra Föster
Stroke: Oliver Zeidler

Mixed Eight
Bow: Sarah Wibberenz
2: Lisa Gutfleisch
3: Luise Bachmann
4: Tabea Schendekehl
5: Tom Gränitz
6: Felix Heinrich
7: Olaf Roggensack
Stroke: Theis Hagemeister
Coxswain: Florian Koch

Romania

Women’s Single Sculls
Andrada Morosanu

Men’s Single Sculls
Marian Enache

Women’s Double Sculls
Bow: Andrada Morosanu
Stroke: Magdalena Rusu

Men’s Double Sculls
Bow: Florin Arteni
Stroke: Ciprian Tudosa

Mixed Double Sculls
Bow: Marian Enache
Stroke: Amalia Chelaru

Mixed Eight
Bow: Cristina Druga
2: Geanina Juncanariu
3: Magdalena Rusu
4: Amalia Chelaru
5: Florin Arteni
6: Claudiu Neamtu
7: Andrei Mandrila
Stroke: Ciprian Tudosa
Coxswain: Victoria Petreanu

China

Women’s Single Sculls
Xinyu Zhang

Men’s Single Sculls
Zhiwei Deng

Women’s Double Sculls
Bow: Xinyu Zhang
Stroke: Shuangmei Shen

Men’s Double Sculls
Bow: Xudi Yi
Stroke: Yide Nie

Mixed Double Sculls
Bow: Zhiwei Deng
Stroke: Shuangmei Shen

Mixed Eight
Bow: Shuxian Zhang
2: Hongshan Zhu
3: Xiuli Zhang
4: Zhiwei Deng
5: Wanning Ren
6: Yihui Wu
7: Xudi Yi
Stroke: Yide Nie
Coxswain: Xiaotong Liang

Netherlands

Women’s Single Sculls
Linn van Aanholt

Men’s Single Sculls
Rik Rienks

Women’s Double Sculls
Bow: Roos de Jong
Stroke: Benthe Boonstra

Men’s Double Sculls
Bow: Gert-Jan van Doorn
Stroke: Mats van Sabben

Mixed Double Sculls
Bow: Finn Florijn
Stroke: Lisa Bruijnincx

Mixed Eight
Bow: Roos de Jong
2: Benthe Boonstra
3: Linn van Aanholt
4: Mats van Sabben
5: Gert-Jan van Doorn
6: Eli Brouwer
7: Rik Rienks
Stroke: Tinka Offereins
Coxswain: Jonna de Vries

Ireland

Women’s Single Sculls
Alison Bergin

Men’s Single Sculls
Konan Pazzaia

Women’s Double Sculls
Bow: Zoe Hyde
Stroke: Margaret Cremen

Men’s Double Sculls
Bow: Adam Murphy
Stroke: Andrew Sheehan

Mixed Double Sculls
Bow: Konan Pazzaia
Stroke: Margaret Cremen

Mixed Eight
Bow: Alison Bergin
2: Zoe Hyde
3: Natalie Long
4: Imogen Magner
5: Nathan Timoney
6: Andrew Sheehan
7: Adam Murphy
Stroke: Jack Dorney
Coxswain: Eoin Finnegan

World Team

Women’s Single Sculls
Viktorija Senkute (LTU)

Men’s Single Sculls
Stefanos Ntouskos (GRE)

Women’s Double Sculls
Bow: Salome Ulrich (SUI)
Stroke: Fabienne Schweizer (SUI)

Men’s Double Sculls
Bow: Martin Mackovic (SRB)
Stroke: Nikolaj Pimenov (SRB)

Mixed Double Sculls
Bow: Stefanos Ntouskos (GRE)
Stroke: Viktorija Senkute (LTU)

Mixed Eight
Bow: Salome Ulrich (SUI)
2: Fabienne Schweizer (SUI)
3: Emma Cornelis (FRA)
4: Hezekia Peron (FRA)
5: Martin Mackovic (SRB)
6: Nikolaj Pimenov (SRB)
7: Benjamin Taylor (NZL)
Stroke: Oliver Welch (NZL)
Coxswain: Zhiwei Sun (CHN)

The World Rowing Shanghai Sprints will take place on 26–27 September 2026 in Shanghai, China.