PR3 Mixed Coxed Four is the first British crew into an A Final at the World Rowing Championships

The second day of the World Rowing Championships saw six British crews take to the water. Much like yesterday, the Bosbaan in Amsterdam brought challenging, headwind conditions throughout the racing session.

Five boats raced at this year’s World Rowing Championships for the first time: the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four, the Men’s and Women’s Fours, and both Quadruple Sculls. For the Men’s Double Scull, this was their second race of the Championships after winning their heat yesterday.

Great Britain’s PR3 Mixed Coxed Four was the first boat in action. After winning the European Championships and setting a European Best Time in the process, Josh O’Brien, Frankie Allen, Jonty Ridley, Charlotte Coburn, and cox Omar Al-Miqdadi raced together for the first time at the World Rowing Championships. The crew picked up from where they left off on Lago di Varese, winning their opening heat in Amsterdam. Throughout the race, they were pushed hard by Australia before France surged in the closing stages; however, the British held on finely to win by a length ahead of the French and advance directly into the A Final on Thursday.

“It was windy, but luckily at Caversham, it’s quite windy there too,” said Coburn.

“ It was definitely a longer race than we anticipated, but I think we did a good job. It was quite busy heading to the start, with lots of Fours heading to the start, which made it challenging. We were confident with our pre-paddle and how we’ve gone into pieces, so yes, we were happy with what we did.”

The Women’s Four of Sarah Marshall, Eleanor Brinkhoff, Angharad Broughton, and Holly Youd have qualified automatically for their semi-final. In a race that was led out in the early stages by the Individual Neutral Athletes, the Netherlands, who won Olympic gold in this boat class two years ago, hit the front after 300m. Making their World Championship debut, Marshall, Broughton, and Youd, who won the European Championships with Brinkhoff, established themselves well in second place, comfortably ahead of AIN and Poland. The Netherlands won in front of their home fans, and Great Britain will join them in the semi-finals.

“It was very windy, but we wanted to stay loose in the challenging conditions,” said Youd, who was stroking the Four.

“We haven’t done many pieces in prolonged conditions like that, so it was challenging, but we got the job done, and there’s more to come.”

Credit: Benedict Tufnell

The Men’s Four picked up from where they left off at World Rowing Cup III. With two boats heading straight to the semi-finals, Dan Graham, James Robson, Douwe De Graaf, and George Bourne hit the front of the field after 400m following a quick start from the Italians. In the second half of the race, the reigning World Champions continued to pull away from the rest of the world, leading Australia by clear water and were best of the rest. They will race their semi-final on Thursday.

“That was good,” said Robson.

“Italy were very quick out of the blocks, and we tried to go with them and stay as relaxed as we could. We knew it was going to be a long race, and man, it was a long race through the middle! I’m happy with how we relaxed into our rhythm, and I felt like we had some gears to go and end, but we didn’t need to use them, which was nice. There are bits to improve on, but I’m happy to get the headwind race out of the way.”

Credit: Benedict Tufnell

In the Women’s Quadruple Sculls, it was another heat win for Great Britain. Romania had a fast start and led at the 500m mark, but by 750m, Lola Anderson, Scott, Finn Stratton, and Imogen Grant had drawn level. An explosive third 500m saw them draw away from the Romanians to win by clear water at the finish line, with Romania second and Canada third. The quartet will be back in action in Thursday’s semi-final.

“It’s good to get our first race done on the course,” said Anderson, one of three Olympic Champions in the crew along with Scott and Grant.

“While the water is challenging, it’s somewhat familiar, and reminds us of the conditions back home at Caversham. It’s good to get the first maker done, evaluate, and then come into the next round of racing with those lessons.”

Credit: Benedict Tufnell

In their opening heat, the Men’s Quadruple Scull were second behind Croatia. The Croatians led from start to finish, but the British quartet of Cedol Dafydd, Callum Dixon, Tobias Schröder, and Rory Harris danced with Estonia at the halfway marker, before putting their foot down and drawing away in the final 750m. After crossing the line in second place, Great Britain will next race in Thursday’s semi-finals.

“We went into it wanting to win, and we didn’t,” explained Harris. “The Croatians are a good crew, so first of all, well done to them, the Estonians, and the Swiss. It’s not the start we wanted, but now we learn from what we did wrong, what we did right, and move on to Thursday.”

Credit: Benedict Tufnell

The Men’s Double Scull of Matt Haywood and Josh Knight were back in action for the second day in a row. After winning their heat yesterday, they eased their bow ball into the lead after Spain jumped out in the opening 15 strokes. By 500m, Haywood and Knight could look back on the field and control proceedings. As Spain, Italy, and China scrapped for the second and third, the British duo remained calm, crossing the line ahead of the chasing field with the Spanish and Italians joining them in tomorrow’s semi-finals.

“We’re always happy to win a race and get through another round,” said Knight.

“That headwind was making things challenging, and a lot of hard work. We couldn’t quite set the rhythm we wanted to, but we’re still ticking along and doing everything we wanted and rowing how we want to. Now, we’ll get a good recovery and move on to tomorrow.

“We had to race the whole way, but we were in control and got into the position we wanted to. We had a little wobble with around 750 to go as people started moving back, and that was when the burn started to set in, and we had to add a little more then. Job was still done, and it still felt like we were in a commanding position,” added Haywood

Credit: Benedict Tufnell

Tomorrow’s racing will see Lauren Henry in action in the Women’s Single Scull heats, as well as the semi-finals of the Men’s Pair and the two Doubles.

“We can be pleased to have safely secured five further semi-final places today, and to have locked in our first A-finals appearance with the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four,” said Interim Performance Director Tom Dyson.

There is a sense of “job done” with today’s racing, but the standard rises quickly from here. Sharper racing is just around the corner, and our crews will be fully focussed on delivering their best in the coming days.”

Follow the World Rowing Championships

Tuesday’s Results (25 August 2026)

The post PR3 Mixed Coxed Four is the first British crew into an A Final at the World Rowing Championships appeared first on British Rowing.