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By Martin Cross
I have seen the future of rowing and it’s not on a straight 2000-meter course. The 2026 World Rowing Shanghai 500m sprints delivered so many thrills and spills. It’s a wonder that there are not more sprint races on a course with a bend, in this dramatic head-to-head format.
Team World won two events: the Tokyo Olympic champion, Greece’s Stefanos Ntouskos, was unmatched in the single sculls. While Nikolai Pimenov and Martin ‘I’m Team World – not Serbia’ Mackovic secured a narrow triumph over Team Netherlands in the men’s doubles.
The day’s other big winners were Team Ireland’s world champions in the women’s double scull, who secured a second triumph over the world silver medallists from Team Netherlands in the space of just over three weeks. Team Germany’s Alex Foster looked untouchable in the women’s singles. But Sophia Vitas from Team USA did secure a podium finish, taking third place behind Linn van Aanholt of the Netherlands.
Vitas certainly felt the jeopardy in the course—her long strokes and flowing style seemed to have conquered the significant left-hand bend on the Suzhou Creek course. But her semi-final saw the Wisconsin grad lose out to Foster under extreme pressure. The same was true of the men’s double from Team USA: Jacob Plihal and Cedar Cunningham. The pressure of flat-out 500m racing on a bend was just too much to take as they went down to a semi-final defeat to Team World.
There were countless mishaps, which frankly made the spectacle gripping for both viewers and spectators alike. Two bridges on the course meant that scullers were looking round pretty soon after the first few strokes to check they were clear of the buttresses. But, of course, the need to put down maximum power meant that looking round was difficult . . .
It was what caught out the British men’s double of Cedol Dafydd and George Bourne. In training on Friday, the two men hit the course’s final bridge—you’d think they might have learnt from that. But while under pressure in Saturday’s quarter-final against Team Netherlands, they hit the same bridge a second time. To be fair to the two men, they took it in the best spirit and their boat was undamaged.
And if you wanted shocks, then this sprint race was for you. The 25-year-old Irishman, Konan Pazzaia, sculled the race of his life in a quarter-final against the world’s best sculler: Oli Zeidler. The German had looked a little out of sorts in the time trial, raced to determine the draw for the later stages. But take nothing away from Pazzaia, who left nothing out on the course. He was rewarded with a bronze medal, when his power proved too much for the young sculler from Team China.
Sunday sees the conclusion of this event, with racing in the mixed double sculls and the mixed eights. Team USA have high hopes of a podium finish in both events. But on this course you can’t take anything for granted.
