Image Credit: World Rowing
2023 Champion: Melvin Twellaar and Stefan Broenink (NED)
Entries: 20
The 2025 World Rowing Championships in Shanghai, China, serve as the inaugural global event of the new quadrennial, marking a pivotal moment in the lead-up to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. With nearly 900 athletes from 56 nations competing across 23 boat classes, the championships represent a critical opportunity for countries to reset their programs, evaluate new talent, and establish a competitive hierarchy for the next three years. At both World Rowing Cups this year, the podium in the men’s double was decided by less than a second, making this a fascinating boat class to follow through this regatta.
The Serbian crew of Martin Mačković and Nikolaj Pimenov arrive in Shanghai as the crew with the most compelling recent form. Their trajectory over the past year has been a masterclass in development. At the Lucerne World Rowing Cup, Mačković and Pimenov delivered a commanding first-place finish, winning in a field that included several crews who had competed in the Paris Olympic final.
New Zealand’s Finn Hamill and Ben Mason have had an exhilarating first season as a crew, with a second-place finish at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup and a third at Varese. Hamill is a former lightweight sculler who has successfully made the transition to the open-weight category, recently defeating Ollie Zeidler in the semi-final of The Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley Royal Regatta and winning Head of the Charles in the single as well.
The Polish duo of Miroslaw Zietarski and Mateusz Biskup enters the World Rowing Championships as the 2025 European Champions. Their pedigree is undeniable: They finished second in the double at Varese and won a bronze medal as part of the quad at both the Paris Olympics last year and the European Rowing Championships this spring.
The field includes the Olympic champions Andrei Sebastian Cornea and Marian Florian Enache of Romania. Coming off their shock win in Paris, the duo earned European silver this past spring. This crew can never be underestimated.
The Irish combination of Fintan McCarthy and Phil Doyle is an exciting example of partnering former lightweight athletes with athletes who have succeeded in the men’s openweight double. McCarthy is a two-time Olympic champion and multiple world champion in the lightweight double sculls (LM2x). McCarthy claimed bronze medals at both the Lucerne World Rowing Cup and the European Rowing Championships while partnered with Konan Pazzaia. It will be exciting to see what the addition of the Paris bronze medallist Phil Doyle does for this crew’s speed.
The American duo of Sam Melvin and Andrew Leroux and the Greek partnership of Antonios Papakonstantinou and Petros Gkaidatzis are also examples of lightweight athletes transitioning to open weight. Sam Melvin is a former U23 World Champion in the lightweight men’s single and finished fourth at the 2024 World Rowing Championships in that event. Antonios Papakonstantinou has a history of podium finishes in lightweight single and double, including a world silver and an Olympic bronze.
The Canadian partnership of Trevor Jones and Terek Been is a quintessential high-risk, high-reward proposition. On paper, this crew has all the elements of a medal contender. Trevor Jones is a two-time U23 world champion in the single scull, a testament to his world-class sculling technique and racing prowess. His partner, Terek Been, is the Canadian 2k erg record holder. It will be exciting to see what this duo is capable of.
Beyond the top contenders and the Canadian wildcard, several other crews have shown flashes of speed that position them as threats to contend for medals. The Swiss crew of Kai Schaetzle and Raphael Ahumada had a World Rowing Cup victory in Varese, and the Italians, Niels Torre and Gabriel Soares, secured a strong second place at the same event.
Prediction
Coming off their win in Lucerne, I predict Serbia will take the gold, electric Ireland’s exciting new combination will take silver, and European champions Poland will round out the podium with bronze.
