Image Credit: World Rowing
The 2025 curtain call was as good as it gets. The final of the women’s single scull was decided by 0.03s as Ireland’s Fiona Murtagh got the better of Great Britain’s Lauren Henry, who had dominated the international season up until that point. What was impressive was the manner in which Murtagh won her world title. The way she led out and held off a charging Henry left everyone gobsmacked, least of all the new world champion.
This is set up to be one of the great sculling rivalries should the two of them stay in the boat class through to the next Olympic Games. Speaking of the single scull, 2025 was the first time Canada’s Katie Clark took to the waters by herself. Two fourth places at the World Rowing Cups were backed up with a win in the B-final out in Shanghai. Having spent 2023 in the double scull before switching to a quad for the Final Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta, Clark has found her groove in the single scull, and 2026 could be a cracking year for the Canadian.
Rivalries in the women’s quad will also spill into 2026. After the Paris Olympic Games and last year’s World Rowing Championships, Great Britain and the Netherlands are currently tied at 1-1 (2-1 to GB if you include last year’s European Rowing Championships). The two of them have been the top two nations in this boat class for some time; however, one to watch are the Germans. The bridesmaids at the Paris Olympic Games and the World Rowing Championships, the Germans won in Lucerne and beat the Dutch at the European Rowing Championships. The question for 2026 is whether or not they can emerge from the shadows and claim a big prize. It will be ten years this summer since they last won a major title, and on that occasion, it was under the gaze of Christ the Redeemer. Perhaps they’ll pick up a European title or a World Rowing Championship win at the end of August?
In the women’s PR1 single scull, Anna Sheremet stepped into the spotlight and dominated. In the absence of Moran Samuel, Birgit Skarstein, and Nathalie Benoit, Sheremet has made this category her own, and it is now hers to lose. As we move a year closer to the Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, the Ukrainian sculler has the chance to do something that the great Romain Polianski has done, and that’s create her own dynasty, especially as she is only 25 years old.
While the Netherlands have already been mentioned for their efforts in the women’s quad, some praising prose must be awarded to them as a nation. To win all three sculling or sweep gold medals at a World Rowing Championships or an Olympic Games is as hard a feat as any, but right now, the closest nation to achieving that might well be the Netherlands, particularly their women’s sculling team. Their quad win was glorious, their double scull win was superb, and they still have Karolien Florijn to come back into the fold.
The 2024 Olympic champion won the championship single sculls at the Head of the Charles back in October. As they get set to host the World Rowing Championships in August, it could be a special homecoming for the Dutch.
Speaking of the women’s double, one crew that could put a spanner in the works of those grand dreams of Dutch dominance is the Chinese. Yunxia Chen and Ling Zhang were a new-look combination for this season, and both moved across from the women’s quad, which they won in Tokyo before finishing a disappointing sixth in Paris. Yes, they will have had home advantage on their side back in September, but with four Olympic campaigns between them, they could be an incredibly entertaining duo to watch across this year’s racing.
