Great Britain set two new European Best Times on the first day of finals at the European Rowing Championships. On the iconic Lago di Varese, the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four and the Men’s Four won gold while setting new European Best Times in the process.The team’s third gold came from an outstanding row from the Women’s Four, one of three consecutive wins .
The PR3 Mixed Coxed Four broke the previous EBT, held by Great Britain since 2023. Their time of 06:47.80 meant they knocked 4.7 seconds off the previous record. Despite being led by Italy through the opening 500m, Josh O’Brien, Frankie Allen, Jonty Ridley, Charlotte Coburn, and cox Omar Al-Miqdadi hit the front by halfway and never looked back. Their second 1000m was full of confidence as they continued to stride away from the rest of the field. This was a first international win for Coburn, Ridley, and Al Miqdadi, who won on their debut for Great Britain.
“I didn’t actually know it was a European Best Time, so that’s really good,” said 2024 Paralympic Champion O’Brien.
“For a new crew like us, that was a great result. We were quite nervous coming into it, but to get the first one out the way with a time like that is really encouraging. So we’re really pleased with that. We’ve also learned a huge amount, including how to deal with the heat. We always race in hot conditions, but this was pretty tough.
The PR3 Mixed Coxed Four launched a gold rush for the British, winning three consecutive races down the track. The Women’s Four were next up and after winning their heat, were imperious as they led out the field in the A Final. Despite a fast finish from Germany to push themselves into silver-medal position, no one was going to catch Great Britain as they hurtled towards the finish line. For Holly Youd, Angharad Broughton, and Sarah Marshall, this is their first senior win and a first European title. This is Eleanor Brinkhoff’s second after winning the gold in the Women’s Eight last year.
“It’s really special, I think we have been working really hard,” said Broughton.
“We’ve changed a lot about the way we have approached rowing in general, and I think it’s exciting that we feel like we’re doing something and we’re gaining speed with everything we are doing in training.”
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
Speaking of debuts, days don’t get much better than today for the Men’s Four. Theo Bell, Sam Ford, Josh Brangan, and Tom O’Sullivan won their heat before taking the final by storm, holding off a mighty sprint from Romania in the closing stages. Their time of 05:43.38 beat Romania’s time set last year by 0.7 seconds. For all four of them it was their first time representing Great Britain at senior level and comes after a season studying and racing in the United States of America”
“It’s an unreal feeling,” said Brangan, who has two U23 gold medals to his name.
“I didn’t go into the U23 squad this year; I got bumped up, and the pressure was on a bit. It’s great being in a boat with these guys, and I feel like we really stepped up over the past few weeks. We got better, and better, and then it just clicked. We’ve come away with a senior debut gold so it’s a very good day.”
“It’s been a really cool experience to come back and be put into this Four with three other guys who are the top of their teams in the United States of America,” added Ford.
“We wanted to see what we can bring from those four programmes as well as our philosophies of rowing and see how we can come together. It’s been really good fun because we bicker all the time with little jabs here and there about what we’ve been doing over the last four years, but underneath that there’s been an underlying theme of trusting each other and our abilities. It’s been brilliant.”
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
On Lago di Varese, it was fourth for the Women’s Quadruple Sculls. For the women’s squad, racing comes in the middle of their training camp in the lead-up to the World Rowing Championships at the end of August. Lola Anderson, Imogen Grant, Hannah Scott, and suber-sub-Becky Wilde won their heat yesterday before advancing through to the A Final. Switzerland had the same route to the final and were the crew to beat after posting the fastest time in the heats. They would take gold ahead of Germany and Romania.
“There’s a lot of fast Quads out there, and we’re in the middle of a big training block,” said 2024 Olympic Champion Grant.
“The other crews have definitely stepped on and given us a new marker to chase. I think we’ve made some really good progress in training, but it didn’t quite translate across to the racing today. We’ve still got some really good weeks out here to put the final touches together before the World Rowing Championships.”
Four weeks ago, the Women’s Double Scull was ninth overall at World Rowing Cup III. Following a productive first couple of weeks of training camp, they have grown as a crew and, despite a crab in the second half of their race, placed fifth in the A Final, four seconds back on Switzerland. The Individual Neutral Athletes took gold ahead of Greece and Lithuania.
“We thought we had a great race. We aimed to step out strong in that first 500m, which was exactly what we did,” explained Cam Nyland.
“We wanted to see how far we could push it and see where that would set us up into the second K. It really felt like it did that, and that it kept our bows in the race. We caught a crab with 600m or so to go, but it felt like as soon as it happened, we stepped right back into what we were doing before and I think that’s what gave us the room and the belief that we could push back through everyone. All things considered, it was positive for us.
Sarah McKay added, “You do always prepare for the worst. If things like crabs do happen, we caught a nice big one there, but we responded really well, and we showed a lot about ourselves when things didn’t quite go our way.”
Back in an A Final for the first time since the Paris 2024 Olympics, Tom Digby and his partner Jake Wincomb were sixth at the European Rowing Championships. In a race won by Romania ahead of Lithuania and Italy, the Brits struggled to keep pace with the leaders. However, after going through the gears at the finish, they closed the gap on Switzerland, who were fifth.
“It’s been a real challenge, but it’s been good to get out and learn what the standard is again,” said the Olympic Champion from the Men’s Eight.
“Being an underdog and coming back two years out from LA gives me a fire which is far more important than any amount of training in the first couple of years. I need to be able to want it enough so that when you come down the barrel of the gun, you’ve got enough and your head is screwed on the right way.
“I’ve got the hips now after the surgery, but I don’t necessarily have the base of fitness to carry me through two races. I raced my heart out yesterday, and Jake’s been phenomenal with me managing my body and hips over the past couple of months, and we certainly got the Pair going nicely at points.
Saturday also played host to the semi-finals of the Men’s and Women’s Single Sculls.
Lauren Henry picked up from where she left off in yesterday’s opening heat. Once again, she posted the fastest time across the two semi-finals, securing a spot in the A Final. Come the finish, the 2024 Olympic Champion was seven seconds ahead of Lithuania’s Viktorija Senkute, while Belgium’s Mazarine Guilbert will also join her in tomorrow’s A Final.
“It was quite a nice tailwind, and I knew by 1500m the job was done and I just had to get over the finish line,” said Henry.
“There was a big launch that made quite a lot of wash in the last 500m, which made it quite choppy! When you’re racing a single, you’re tired, and there’s big waves; it’s quite challenging, and for everyone to stay in their boats was quite impressive. I’m looking forward to stepping on tomorrow for the big one. It’s all well and good winning a semi-final, but it’s time to reset now and go again tomorrow.”
Jamie Gare will race in tomorrow’s B Final. The second semi-final of the Men’s Single Scull saw Miohai Chiruta of Romania take the win with Switzerland’s Kai Schaetzle and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champion Stefanos Ntouskos also claiming a place to race for medals.
“It was tough, but I tried to put myself in the race,” explained Gare.
The field was just faster and got away from me in the middle, and there was too much to do coming into the finish.”
“The team can take a lot from today. Three crews have delivered exceptional performances to come away with the privilege of calling themselves European Champions, and each one has a great story behind them,” said Interim Performance Director Tom Dyson.
For all of our crews today, this will have been a valuable learning experience and a reminder of the standard of a senior Championships regatta. We have some strong opportunities tomorrow, and will be looking for some further success on “home” waters here in Varese.”
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