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U.S. crews are off to fast starts at the 2026 World Rowing Championships on Amsterdam’s famous Bosbaan, with the men’s and women’s fours and quads all continuing as medal contenders.
The defending world champion women’s four of Molly Bruggeman, Azja Czajkowski, Teal Cohen, and Kate Knifton dominated its opening race, leading by nearly six seconds at halfway before cruising to victory.
Peter Chatain, Pieter Quinton, Gus Rodriguez, and Chris Carlson were similarly convincing in the men’s four. The U.S. crew won in 6:22.22, the fastest time of the heats.
“It’s a good first outing, and we are excited with the result,” Quinton said.
The U.S. quads also advanced. Kristi Wagner, Sophia Vitas, Emily Kallfelz, and Evan Park finished just 0.05 seconds behind Switzerland in the women’s event. In the men’s quad, James Wright, Jacob Plihal, Cedar Cunningham, and Ben Davison overtook The Netherlands in the final sprint to win by 0.77 seconds.
Sam Melvin won his men’s single heat by open water in 7:16.47, continuing a season in which he earned gold and bronze on the World Rowing Cup circuit. Olympian Lauren O’Connor placed second in the fastest women’s single heat, while the women’s pair and both U.S. lightweight single scullers also advanced.
Thunderstorms disrupted Friday’s racing, but the host nation still got to celebrate. Melvin Twellaar and Simon van Dorp won the men’s double to give The Netherlands its first gold medal of the regatta. Serbia took silver, and Belgium claimed its first world championship medal in the event after Great Britain caught a crab while in third.
The U.S. eights begin racing Saturday, with finals scheduled for Sunday. The condensed program is part of World Rowing’s effort to craft a schedule to produce more compelling Olympic viewing in Los Angeles in 2028.
With the American fours and quads showing medal-winning potential and the eights still to come, U.S. hopes are high.
“It’s going to be hard in any event,” said USRowing Josy Verdonkschot, the McLane Family Chief High Performance Officer for USRowing, “but I hope we can race for medals.”
