Image Credit: World Rowing
Entries: 17
Normally, it would be wise to kick off with the defending champions, Romania. The red, blue, and yellow have been synonymous with success in women’s rowing across the age categories, and their Olympic achievements need no introduction.
However, the Olympic Games are a great place to start, bringing us to Greece, and one of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games medallists: Dimitra Kontou. She began her season with a silver medal at the European Rowing Championships and will now try to add a third World Rowing U23 title to her pedigree, with a new partner in the women’s double sculls, Varvara Lykomitrou. 18-year-old Lykomitrou is a star in the making and has already dabbled at U23 level, winning the bronze medal at last year’s European Rowing Championships. There is something in the bright blue Mediterranean waters of Greece, as just a few weeks ago we witnessed one of the greatest races of all time at Henley Royal Regatta, where the Greeks, backed by Poseidon himself, snatched victory on the line in the final of the Stonor Challenge Trophy. I’m sure this U23 combination will pick up plenty of inspiration from that performance and certainly come into this year’s U23 World Rowing Championships as one of the favourites.
I said we’d get to Romania, and here we are. It’s a new look combination for the defending champions, and as noted above, there’s serious work to be done if they are to retain the title. However, they’re giving it a fair go, and Mariana-Laura Dumitru brings significant experience to their selected crew. This season, she’s already teamed up with one of last year’s champions, Andrada-Maria Morosanu, to stroke that combination to a bronze medal at the 2025 European Rowing Championships. Here, she’ll be partnered with Bianca-Camelia Ifteni, who makes her debut at a U23 World Rowing Championships, having won back-to-back U19 titles in the women’s single sculls.
In the absence of the Swiss, Lithuania are the best of the rest and they return one of their bronze medal-winning crew. Since last year’s U23 World Rowing Championships, Saule Kryzeviciute has gone on to race at this year’s European Rowing Championships, where she won the B-final. For this year’s U23 competition, she’s paired up with Gabija Stankeviciute, who’s no stranger to the double, having raced it three out of the six times she’s represented her country since 2023, including a fourth-place finish at the 2023 U23 European Rowing Championships.
Of the remainder of last year’s finalists, only France and Germany are back.
Much like Lithuania, the French are returning one of their athletes. In the lead up to last year’s U23, Jeanne Roche did a spot of senior-level racing at both World Rowing Cup III and the Final Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta. This year, the U23 World Rowing Championships will be her first international race of the season, and she’s heading to Poznan with Milla Massemin, who raced to sixth in the quad at the European Rowing Championships a few weeks ago.
For the Germans, it’s all change. This combination already has some racing experience under their belt, having raced as GER2 to 13th overall at this year’s World Rowing Cup Lucerne. Both Charlotte Burgdorf and Johanna Debus were part of last year’s U23 quad, and they’ll be looking to improve on last year’s agonising fourth-place finish.
Finally, we reach the British. Poppy Baker and Rachel Bradley were eighth overall last year, and Meg Knight and Eleanor Dash will certainly be looking to get themselves into the A-final. While Dash is making her debut for Great Britain, she’s had a cracking season, placing fifth in championship singles at BUCS Regatta alongside winning the Rosie Mayglothling Trophy at Henley Women’s Regatta in 2024. As for Meg Knight, she was part of the Reading University quad that won the Borne Cup at Henley Women’s Regatta to go with their championship quad title at BUCS Regatta. Knight returns to the U23s after claiming a sensational bronze medal in the quad last year.
Prediction
Greece, Romania, Germany, and Great Britain in the fight for medals, with the Greeks coming out on top
