Image Credit: World Rowing
Entries: 16
Coming into these championships, all eyes will be on the Great Britain pairing of Marcus Chute and Theo Bell. They really made the rowing world sit up and take notice with their performance at Henley Royal Regatta this month, where, rowing as Princeton University, they reached the final of The Silver Goblets and Nickalls’ Challenge Cup, dispatching the Spanish world medallists en route to the final. They came up just short against the Rienks brothers from the Netherlands, but their performance makes them strong favourites in Poznan. They have both raced at the U23 World Rowing Championships before, with Chute finishing fourth in the U23 quad in 2023 and Bell winning gold in the U23 eight in 2022 and another gold in the U23 four in 2023. Bell is also one of a very select number of British athletes to have competed at the U23 World Rowing Championships whilst still at school.
It feels like if you want to row for Croatia, you have to be a sibling (see Sinkovic, Loncaric and Jurkovic), and the U23 pairing of Dominko and Marine Arnerich follows that trend. They are a cosmopolitan duo: educated initially in New Zealand, they are now undergraduates at Oxford Brookes, where they won the The Prince Albert Challenge Cup in 2023 and The Temple Challenge Cup in 2024. They were also in the Ladies’ Challenge Plate crew that reached the final this year. They represented Croatia at the 2024 European Rowing Championships and the U23 World Rowing Championships, winning silver in the men’s four at the Europeans and finishing tenth at the U23 World Rowing Championships in St Catherine’s, Canada.
Italy will also be a strong contender for a medal; they are represented by Alessandro Timpanaro and Giuseppe Bellomo. Timparano was bronze medallist in this event last year and has also represented Italy on the senior stage, racing in the men’s eight at the opening World Rowing Cup last season and this year placing 16th in the men’s pair at World Rowing Cup Varase. Bellomo was U23 World Champion in the four in 2023 and followed that up with a silver medal in the same boat class last year. A student at the University of Washington, he was part of the Husky crew that won the IRA National Championship this year.
Another pair with senior international experience is Turkey. Aytimur Selcuk and Enes Biber raced in the pair at the 2023 World Rowing Championships (whilst both still teenagers), finishing 25th. Biber also raced the pair at the Final Olympic Qualifying Regatta and at both the 2024 and 2025 European Rowing Championships. He was fourth in the men’s pair at the U23 European Rowing Championships last year, doubling up to take silver in the men’s eight. Selcuk won U19 gold in the men’s pair in 2023 and last season won bronze in the men’s four at the U23 European Rowing Championships.
Switzerland is represented by two of the reigning European U23 men’s four gold medallists, Seic Critchley and Nicolas Chambers. Critchley was educated at Shiplake College and was part of the First VIII that reached The Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup semifinals at Henley Royal Regatta 2023. He also represented Great Britain at the Coupe de la Jeunesse. Chambers and Critchley also raced in the men’s four at the U23 World Rowing Championships in 2024, winning the B-final.
The USA comes to Poznan with the same pairing that finished fifth last year: Adam Pushner and Colton Millar. They are both from Columbia University and raced in the Lions Varsity crew that finished four in the C-final at the IRA National Championship. They won the pairs spot by winning the US trials last month and were named “All-Americans” by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association.
Norway is another country with US-based athletes. Askel Wergeland and Einar Bjorvik are both at Yale. Wergeland raced in the First Varsity at the IRA National Championships, whilst Bjorvik was in the 2nd Varsity. They raced together at the U23 World Rowing Championships last year, finishing tenth in the men’s pair.
New Zealand are the defending champions in this event, but they come to Poznan with two international newbies: Alex Fletcher and Dylan McConnell. 18-year-old McConnell set a New Zealand record in the U19 pair at the Maadi Cup earlier this year but was then sidelined with glandular fever. Fletcher won gold in the U22 men’s double sculls at the New Zealand Championships.
Germany is represented by Vinzent Kuhn from Ruderverein Munster von 1882 and Leonardo Rosenquist from Ruder Club Allemania von 1886. This will be their third year on the U23 team. Kuhn raced in the men’s four in 2023 and 2024, finishing fifth and 12th, respectively. Rosenquist raced in the men’s eight at the 2023 U23 European Rowing Championships and at the U23 World Rowing Championships last year. They raced in the German men’s eight at the Ratzeburg Regatta earlier this season, taking the gold on both days.
Denmark also raced at this year’s Ratzeburg Regatta with Simon Madsen partnered by his twin brother Bjarke, winning the bronze medal. However, for this year’s U23 regatta, Simon Madsen is partnered by Tobias Bosnes. Bosnes is a student at the University of Washington who rowed in the Varsity coxed four and won gold at the IRA National Championship. He also has a European U23 silver medal from last year in the coxed four. They will also be doubling up in the men’s eight.
Canada is another country with two US-based athletes: Connor Bohlmann and Matteo Banducci. Bohlmann is currently at Princeton and rowed in the second varsity eight, which won the Petite Final at the IRA National Championship. Banducci is at Cornell and rowed in the first varsity eight, which won the C-final at the IRAs. These two are also part of the Canadian men’s eight racing in Poznan.
Spain comes to Poznan with two members of the men’s eight that won bronze at the U23 European Rowing Championships last year, Aleix Rangel Sanguesa and Pau Sanchez Battle.
Australia has a relatively inexperienced duo of Alec Hoskin from Sydney Rowing Club and Montgomery Martin from Queensland University. This will be Hoskin’s second year on the U23 team, having just missed out on a medal in the men’s coxed four last year. For Martin, this year’s regatta marks his international debut.
The Bulgarian’s, Alexandar Nikolov and Iliyan Stovilov, raced in the men’s quad at the European Rowing Championships this year, but didn’t progress beyond the heats.
For Greece, the pairing of Andreas Bourkas and Alexandros Chatziavgoustidis stepped up from the U19 team, with whom they finished sixth in the men’s pairs at the 2024 U19 European Rowing Championships.
Romania is represented by Darius Florin Simion, who finished fourth in the junior men’s four in 2024, and Silviu–Marian Dumitriu, a U19 bronze medallist from 2023.
My picks:
On current form, this looks to be the Brits’ to lose, with the Croatians in silver and the Italians in bronze.
