Finals day in Qingdao delivers close racing from start to finish

The last day of the 2026 World Rowing Coastal Championships produced a string of thrilling races, including a half-length finish after a 6km race in the men’s solo.

The USA took the team trophy and topped the medal table after USA crews won three gold medals and two silvers, ahead of hosts China. China, France, Italy and Finland each won one gold.

Several athletes are going home with two medals. Kory Rogers and Christopher Bak (USA) both picked up a gold and silver, winning the coastal men’s double sculls plus silver in the mixed double sculls and men’s solo respectively. Alexis Fortier (FRA) beat Bak to gold in the men’s solo, after taking bronze with his brother Aymeric in the men’s double sculls.

Joel Naukkarinen and Eeva Karppinen (FIN) won the mixed double sculls, after both took bronze in the solo events, and Bass Andre (GBR) won silver in the women’s solo and women’s coxed quadruple sculls. Twins Alessia and Valeria Palacios (PER) won silver in the women’s double sculls and bronze in the quad.

Boersen wins close women’s solo final

The first final of the 2026 World Rowing Coastal Championships proved to be a cracking race from start to finish. Christine Cavallo (USA01) and Eeva Karppinen (FIN01) were the early leaders, but with none of the top crews separated by much they found themselves pushed to the wrong side of the first buoy. Both lost a lot of ground as they backed down to take the turn correctly, allowing Audrianna Boersen (USA02) and Gaia Chiavini (MON01) to come out in front. By 2000m Boersen had the advantage as Bass Andre (GBR01) challenged Chiavini, and in the second half of the race Boersen and Andre were comfortably in front. It was neck and neck between the duo until Andre took a turn too wide, opening the door for Boersen to claim gold. Behind them, Karppinen steadily worked her way back through the pack to overhaul Chiavini for bronze.

Results: USA02, GBR01, FIN01

Boersen said: “One of my goals personally was to get out to the first buoy really quick, and it’s always been said that’s a really pivotal point of the race, but I really saw that today. I was in line with everybody and came out of that first turn and that was the first moment I was like ‘I could medal’.”

Rogers and Bak reclaim title

At the last World Rowing Coastal Championships in 2024 in Genoa, Kory Rogers and Chris Bak (USA01) broke an oar and could not defend their 2023 title in the coastal men’s double sculls. In Qingdao the duo made no mistakes, getting out early on and then extending their lead through the race. Behind them, European champions Kealan Mannix and Ronan Byrne (IRL01) had a steady start, tracking Alexis and Aymeric Fortier (FRA02) through the second 1000m and moving into silver medal position by the second timing marker. That was how things stayed for the rest of the race. Behind the leaders, there were some clashes around an early buoy, but the medallists were unaffected.

Results: USA01, IRL01, FRA02

Bak said: “We kept pushing. You never know what can happen on a buoy. You can’t tell on camera, but the wind is really strong today, the surface of the water is pretty flat but you really felt that heavy, heavy wind. So we kept trying to push every stride that we could.”

Three in a row for the USA

China had a superb start in the coastal women’s coxed quadruple sculls, rounding the 1000m buoy about six seconds up on second-placed Peru. But a crab at 1700m was catastrophic for the Team Liaoning crew, and the rest of the field sailed past them. USA01 came out best and were able to look back on the chasing pack through the middle of the race. Great Britain had a good line around the next couple of turns and were sitting in second, with Peru close to their stern, and USA02 a little further back in fourth. The race for silver brought Great Britain and Peru a little closer to the USA as the race hit 4000m, but the leaders responded. Into the final straight, the USA’s win was confirmed, while the British held off a spirited Peruvian charge for silver.

Results: USA01, GBR01, PER01

Solveig Imsdahl (USA01) said: “We had a good first half, and then around that one buoy our coxswain (Natalie Cleri) took a really good turn, and that’s where we got ahead. And we just held them off for the rest of the race.”

China stay clear of chaos for gold

Zhang Yuanyuan and Sun Luping of Team Liaoning (CHN02) had an excellent race in the women’s double sculls final. They got out early and so kept themselves clear of the multiple clashes around the turning buoys which plagued the other crews. The silver and bronze medals were not decided until late in the race; Cheng Li and Chen Ke (CHN05) were up in silver medal position for the early part of the race, taking tight lines around the buoys, but Alessia and Valeria Palacios (PER01) had caught them by the second timing point and were able to stay clear as Charline Lebreton and Marine Delanoe, Saint-Malo/Carteret (FRA01) motored through the pack into medal contention.

Results: CHN02, PER01, FRA01

Sun said: “The whole race was very good, and I’m very excited. It’s such an honour and I am very excited to win the first race.”

Fortier beats Bak in thriller

Although the coastal men’s solo medallists were determined by about halfway, the order in which they would finish was far from certain until the line. Joel Naukkarinen (FIN01) had the fastest start, before he was overhauled by Chris Bak (USA01). Alexis Fortier (FRA02) was in a tight pack of boats at the first buoy, but once he got clear he started moving up on the two leaders. Little by little Fortier found more speed, as Naukkarinen, who said afterwards he had had trouble with the pin of his oarlock on the right side, started to slip back. In the third quarter of the race Fortier moved clear of Naukkarinen and up level with Bak, and then just past the USA rower. In the finishing straight Bak put in a huge sprint and closed up to just half a length – but Fortier took gold by 0.79 seconds.

Results: FRA02, USA01, FIN01

Fortier said: “I was involved in a clash at the second buoy and I lost some ground, then I managed to catch up person by person and got past. I never gave up and carried on to the finish. It went well and I’m very happy.”

Gavirate’s quad win gold for Italy

ASD Canottieri Gavirate, rowing as ITA04, had the best start and got to the first buoy ahead in the men’s coxed quadruple sculls final with Team Liaoning (CHN02) close behind. However, as the race developed, it was Monaco and Rowing Club Genovese (ITA03) who moved into silver and bronze medal positions. With Gavirate moving out to a bigger and bigger margin, MON01, ITA03 and CHN02 were in a three-way fight for silver and bronze. Monaco and Genovese had the better finish, with the Monegasque crew hanging on for silver.

Results: ITA04, MON01, ITA03

Rocchi (ITA04) said: “We start very strong, very fast, and we came in the first position and we do all the race in the first position and that was amazing. It was the first race in this crew so we are very happy.”

World gold for European mixed doubles champions

Joel Naukkarinen and Eeva Karppinen (FIN01) added gold to their earlier bronzes in the men’s and women’s solos with a confident performance in the mixed double sculls. Although they were only fourth to 1000m, they had taken the lead by the second timing marker at 2400m and were then able to cruise ahead to victory. Behind them, Kory Rogers and Sera Busse (USA01) had a better start, but slipped back in the middle and got themselves involved in a tight race for silver with Long Zhentao and Yang Yujiao (CHN01). A better turn around the final buoy gave silver to the USA. France had to settle for fourth and fifth.

Results: FIN01, USA01, CHN01

Karppinen said: “It was a really good race, and we rowed relaxed and executed our race plan, so we are super happy with the result.”