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The Dutch men’s eight barely held off a British sprint by .06 seconds to win the 2026 World Rowing Championship in front their home crowd in a new world-best time of 5:17.75. Australia won bronze. The U.S. fell to fifth as the pace went up in the second half of the grand final held in the same day as the semifinal, with the heats held the evening before.
Stroked by Simona Radis in her third multiple-gold world championship, Romania lead the women’s eight final from start to finish, re-setting their world-best time to 5:51.88.
“It was not an easy win,” said Radis after the women’s eight final. “It was our best race in this new team.”
The U.S. women’s eight, who set the fastest time in heats, overcame a relatively slow start to sprint back into the medals in the final 500, earning bronze behind Great Britain. The Netherlands finished fourth, with Canada fifth.
Overall, the U.S. squad delivered a breakthrough success at this year’s worlds, with golds in the Para, women’s, an men’s fours.
“We’ve all been dreaming of this,” said Pieter Quinton, stroke of the men’s four. “Every year you come to this regatta and you want to be the person or the crew listening to your national anthem.”
