The fastest boat in the world defended its title successfully as world champions in Belgrade, adding to its European Championship and Grand Challenge Cup honors at the Henley Royal Regatta. It was “a tough season,” according to crew member Sholto Carnegie (Yale ’18), one in which the GB eight barely outsprinted—by 0.05 seconds—the impressive Romanian eight at the Euros and finished second in Lucerne to the Australian men’s eight that trained in Europe all summer.

But the British big boat put things right in Belgrade, winning both its heat and the final over the second-place Dutch (there were only 10 entries, so no quarter- or semifinals) at the Olympic-qualifying Worlds in 5:24.2, six seconds off of the world-best time of 5:19.2 set by the U.S. in 2018.