Image Credit: World Rowing
2023 Champions: Leonard van Lierop, Finn Florijn, Tone Wieten, Koen Metsemakers (Netherlands)
Entries: 14
The closing event on the first day of finals in Shanghai, the men’s quadruple sculls, presents an intriguing event. As with many fields at these championships, it is a mixture of new names and established talent within the sport. However, with as much talent as will be on the start line, one of the headlines from the preparation of this event is that the Netherlands will not be on the start line. The defending world and double-Olympic champions have not entered this event, leaving many other crews the opportunity to think this will be their year.
Italy
Italy is first in line for that mantle. With a relatively stable lineup, the silver medallists in Paris have won a medal in this event at the last four World Rowing Championships. They will return their entire Paris crew to Shanghai, three of whom also raced in Tokyo. They boated a different lineup earlier in the season as Matteo Sartori stepped in from the Paris double, joining Luca Rambaldi, Andrea Panizza and Giacomo Gentili. To race at the European Rowing Championships and the Varese World Rowing Cup. At the former, they finished fourth in the strong Plovdiv field, before improving to win gold at their home World Rowing Cup in Varese. With Luca Chiumento returning to the crew after recovering from injury, they will hope to continue their winning form at the World Rowing Championships, but with the national championships being their only race over the past three months, there could easily be a change in the pecking order since Varese.
Poland
The bronze medallists in Paris and the only non-Dutch nation to win a global championship gold since 2018, Poland will also look for gold in the Thursday final in Shanghai. Unlike their Italian rivals, their crew has changed somewhat since Paris, with only Dominik Czaja racing in the quad at both events. Joining him are Piotr Plominski, who finished eighth overall at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta last year, plus Jakub Wozniak and Konrad Domanski, who won world and European titles at the U23 level in the double last year. Across the season, these lineups have also changed, as the selectors look to balance their talent across their strong men’s sculling squad. Despite the changes, the quad has been consistently successful, winning bronze at the European Rowing Championships and silver at both the Varese and Lucerne World Rowing Cup events. With some extended time in the crew, they will be hoping they can crack the top spot in Shanghai.
Great Britain
Finishing fourth at the 2023 World Rowing Championships and the 2024 Olympic Games, Great Britain has struck out with a vengeance this year. Returning a crew with two members of the Paris crew: Callum Dixon and Matt Haywood, rising star Cedol Dafydd, and Rory Harris, who has been knocking on the door of the main squad for some time. Across the season, the crew has been untouchable: winning gold medals at the European Rowing Championships and the Lucerne World Rowing Cup, plus The Queen Mother Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta against a strong field. The only blemish on their record came in Varese as a late withdrawal by Callum Dixon led to a bronze medal finish. But with an extended period together as a crew across training blocks, at home and abroad, they will expect to continue their winning habit.
United States
The nature of the decentralised system used by the national team in the United States led to the crews being rather changeable, especially within a post-Olympic season. However, there has been a real effort by High Performance Director Josy Verdonkschot to keep their top athletes together and this crew is the product of that, made up of four of the United States’ best available scullers including two Paris Olympians: Jacob Plihal, who turned down the opportunity to race in the single for this crew, and Chris Carlson, who won bronze last year in the eight. Two first-timers at the senior World Rowing Championships are joining them: Cedar Cunningham and Nathan Phelps. All four of this lineup have raced throughout the World Rowing Cup season, with all but Phelps being in the crew as they finished third at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup. With these athletes on board, the crew has a strong chance of success in Shanghai and hopes to land amongst the medals.
Germany
Once dominant in this discipline, German men’s sculling has fallen from grace in recent years. Besides Oli Zeidler, who trains away from the national team base, no German openweight sculler has won an Olympic or World Rowing Championship medal since 2016. However, a rising generation wants to change that, and this boat contains many of that group. Ole Hohensee and Oliver Holtz have become ones to watch within the sculling group, announcing themselves onto the scene by getting the better of the aforementioned Oli Zeidler at the November long-distance national trial. Continuing their success by separately winning silver medals at the World Rowing U23 Championships, they now combine with two more debutants at the senior World Rowing Championships to take on the best in the world in Shanghai. While a medal would be a big ask for such a young crew, look for this crew to set a strong foundation to build on this Olympiad.
Australia
Another team with a new set of faces in this event is Australia, as 2025 marked the first international appearance for three of their crew. Alexander Rossi is the only returning member from last year’s crew who finished sixth at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. Joining him are Nicholas Blackman and Johnson Daubney, who both have earned U23 World Rowing Championship medals in the past two years, plus 26-year-old Jackson Free, who made his first appearance in green and gold this year, the third generation in his family to do so. As a crew, they improved throughout the European leg of their season, moving from ninth in Varese to fifth in Lucerne and reaching the final at Henley Royal Regatta. Now in a time zone closer to home, they hope to continue that growth and achieve an A-final finish in this stacked field.
Spain
While early-season results looked promising for the Spanish quad, the lineup has changed somewhat. Out goes the double who finished fifth in Paris and contributed to an A-final finish at this spring’s European Rowing Championship. They will race in the double sculls event in Shanghai; in their place comes a young combination of Igor Teixidor Buch and Caetano Horta Pombo. Racing as a double, this pairing finished seventh overall at the World Rowing U23 Championships, but their experience varies widely. For Texidor Buch, Shanghai will be his first senior international race, while Horta Pombo raced in the lightweight double at both the Paris and Tokyo Olympic Games. Combine this with the established names of Jordi Jofre Senciales and Gonzalo Garcia Ferrero, who were in this crew for last summer’s unsuccessful attempt at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta. With this balance of youth and experience, they may not be able to replicate their top-six finish from Plovdiv, but they will be able to lay down a solid performance in the first significant test of the Olympiad.
Czechia
Another crew with a strong representation from their U23 group is Czechia. While this lineup is unchanged from the seventh-place finish at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup regatta, Jan Cizek, Martin Jezek, and Michal Zindulka linked up with Miroslav Vokalek to win a close race for gold at the U23 World Rowing Championships with a brilliant turn of speed in the closing 500 metres. Back in the senior quad with Filip Zima, they hope to carry that strong form into the senior ranks. At the senior level, however, the experience level among the younger members differs; some have raced at the World Rowing Championships before, but stroke man Zindulka will debut at this level. He will be looking to build on his experience stroking two close world championship finals at the U23 level to perform well with this crew as a senior.
Ukraine
One crew not short on experience is Ukraine, as Ivan Dovhodko will stroke their crew. The 36-year-old from Kyiv is a double Olympian, having rowed in the quad at both the London and Rio Olympic Games and was world champion in 2014. Lining up for his tenth World Rowing Championships appearance in the quad (11th overall), he is joined by three more athletes who are at least 30 years old, with a combined 13 World Rowing Championship appearances. This season, the crew finished seventh at the European Rowing Championships, giving them a solid but unimpressive base to build from the middle of the pack. For Shanghai, Yuriy Ivanov moved across from the eight three months ago to join the quad as they look to improve that performance.
Ireland
With the end of lightweight rowing at the Olympic Games, Ireland’s openweight men’s sculling squad has received a boost in talent. Add a strong group rising through age-group racing to the mix, and a golden moment is possible for the Cork-based programme. Unfortunately, work and study commitments have delayed a full unveiling of the talent for this year. While the double is prioritised, Tokyo Olympian Ronan Byrne provides the experience in this crew as he is joined by three athletes born in 2002. With three World Rowing U23 Championship medals each, this talented group of young athletes aims to make things click at the senior level. At the Lucerne World Rowing Cup regatta, they finished eighth in the 11-boat field, but with the proven talent in their crew, they can certainly perform to a higher standard in Shanghai.
Others
Romania retains just one athlete in this crew from the group who finished in last place at the Paris Olympic Games last summer. Joining Florin Bogdan Horodisteanu is a developmental group, including Cristian-Vasile Nicoara, who will race at his first senior World Rowing Championships, having raced at four as a U23. Alongside them are two first-time senior internationals who recently won bronze in the coxless four at Poznan’s U23 World Rowing Championship.
The home team, China, enters the same crew that finished seventh in Varese and sixth in Lucerne, as two athletes on board make their World Rowing Championship debuts. Providing the experience in the crew is Quan Zhang, who returns to the World Rowing Championships for the first time since Tokyo, where he raced in the men’s quadruple sculls – one of only two times the Chinese have qualified in this boat class.
From the Croatian crew that finished ninth in Lucerne, the selectors have made just one change, with Roko Boskovic stepping into the crew, joining his brother Karlo in the stern pair. The Croatians have not raced this event since they were world champions with Damir Martin and the Sinkovic brothers in 2013. Twelve years later, they make their return in Shanghai.
Rounding out the field, the French crew comprises four athletes who did not get to race in front of a home crowd on the biggest stage in Vaires-sur-Marne. Victor Marcelot and Yoann Lamiral remain in the crew that raced at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta and are joined by two debutants at the senior World Rowing Championships. In the first race for the crew this year, they will aim to build a strong performance to open the Olympiad for the boat class.
Prediction
With the lack of a Dutch entry, the field is opened up, and based on their strong results throughout the season, my pick is for Great Britain to earn their first-ever senior World Rowing Championship Gold in the men’s quadruple sculls. Behind them, I will pick Italy to take the silver and the United States to take bronze.
