Great Britain saw 28 athletes compete across nine boats at the 2026 FISU World University Rowing Championships on Fanshawe Lake. This year was the first time the Championships had been held in Canada, bringing together more than 300 student athletes from over 20 countries, including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and hosts Canada. After three days of close racing, Great Britain finished third in the medal table, returning home with one gold and six silver medals.
In the first A Final of the day, the Women’s Double of Molly Curry and Ellie Dash, coached by Tom Selby, won by a length and a half in a time of 7:07.34, ahead of a tussle for second between Italy and Germany, which was settled by just 0.52 seconds. It was a strong performance from the duo, who came together at the National Training Centre in Caversham just weeks before the event. “The double raced with confidence and bravery, establishing an early lead and closing the door on the field to take the teams first medal of the day, the gold.
“It was a fantastic performance from the athletes, backed by a brilliant coaching and support team both on and off the water. Momentum continued to build after the double won the first A Final of the day, which created a real domino effect for the rest of the team,“ said Performance Development Coach Tom Selby.
Credit: schafersshots
In the Men’s Eight, Italy took gold in a time of 5:40.75, with Great Britain winning silver by just 0.15 seconds ahead of the Netherlands in third. The full crew of William Morgan-Jones, Alfie Dean, Rupert Apps, Harry Wildridge, Sebastian Iles, Gwilym Johnson, Edward Ridley and cox Imogen Woodcock was coached by Jack Stoddard.
Two seat Alfie Dean reflected on the race: “Italy were so quick off the blocks and held that lead the whole way. We went out there and did what we wanted to do, so to come away with silver is a great feeling and I’ve loved every minute of the whole campaign.
“It was a really amazing experience representing Great Britain internationally for the first time. The whole event has been great, and Jack has done a great job bringing us all together in such a short time.”
Three-time GB U23 rower Phoebe Snowden raced in the Women’s Pair with Zoe McCutcheon, the Durham University Boat Club athlete who also won gold in the Women’s Four and Eight at the World University Games last year with Snowden. Great Britain took home the silver in 7:26.03, just behind the Netherlands, with Italy in bronze. Coached by Matilda Horn, the pair also doubled up together in the Women’s Eight.
The Men’s Four of Alex Logan, AJ Coates, Joe Stobbs and Luka Haložan Bayley raced for gold before narrowly missing out by 0.8 seconds to Italy, with hosts Canada taking bronze.
The Women’s Four of Pippa Jamieson, Alice Bradley, Efa Wilson and Ella Weeks, coached by Zoe Taylor, also took silver. After a thrilling sprint for the line they finished just 0.98 seconds behind Germany, with Italy only one second further back in bronze. The four also doubled up in the Women’s Eight, which followed a similar pattern: Italy took bronze, Great Britain silver, and the Netherlands gold by just under a second. Joining them in the eight were Edinburgh University Boat Club’s Penny Irvine and Madeleine Fatani, the stern pair of Edinburgh’s top boat in this year’s Island Challenge Cup, alongside Durham graduate and Leander Club cox Caspar Gray. The eight was coached by Taylor and Matilda Horn.
In the Men’s Pair, former Newcastle University Boat Club men’s captain James Purves Liddelle teamed up with Abdelrahman Farag of the University of Bristol. In a strong field, the pair took silver behind Italy and three seconds clear of Germany in bronze.
Ben Snoxall and Rebekah Court both narrowly missed out on their A Finals, finishing seventh in the Men’s and Women’s Single Sculls respectively. Snoxall, of Reading University Boat Club, arrived in Canada off the back of winning the Championship Quadruple Sculls at BUCS Regatta, while Court, of the University of Bath and the South West Performance Development Academy, was selected for the second year running, having placed fourth in the Women’s Double Sculls at last year’s World University Games.
“The team pulled together and stepped up really well into the finals thanks to the coaches, who managed their crews exceptionally to be ready for medal races. Of the 28 athletes, 26 returned with a medal but it was the two non-medalling single scullers the team were most proud of, both athletes raced with the passion we wanted to see to win their B-Finals setting a tone throughout the team. This was followed by a flurry of medals, and most notably the W2x who showed great improvement in their mid race pace over the campaign to be able to dominate their event.
The trip will have meant many different things to these athletes as they now move to the next stage of their development but the lessons learned in international racing will carry them in good stead. A huge thanks to the management team from BUCS and British Rowing to ensure this opportunity for both the athletes and coaches” said Head Coach Dan Moore.
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