Gold Rush for Great Britain
Records broken & history made as five gold medals won on final day at the 2025 European Rowing Championships
Sunday 1 June 2025 – Great Britain topped the medal table after a thrilling 90 minutes in Plovdiv which saw all five racing crews win gold, adding to the gold, silver and two bronze medals won on Saturday. Pristine racing conditions saw records broken and history made at the European Rowing Championships, with 28 British athletes crowned Champions of Europe.
It was a first-ever European gold medal win for Great Britain in the Men’s Quadruple Sculls (M4x). The crew of Cedol Dafydd, Callum Dixon, Matt Haywood and Rory Harris dominated the race and achieved a European Best Time of 05:35.02. “We’re very, very happy with that.” Callum said, adding, “It’s been an aim for a while, so it feels special to come away top of the podium. I’ve rowed with several different people now and I feel like I’ve learnt a little bit from each of them, so I think the people before us and behind us have certainly helped to make this possible.”
Rory said that the European record time was “the icing on the cake”, adding “We didn’t know the time. We were just thinking about our race plan, thinking about getting our bow ball in front. So to have that record as well, feels incredible.”
Matt commented “it feels amazing to have been building and building, building, and then to peak today. I’ve had a lot of fourth places in my career, so it feels nice to have made that jump and get ourselves that far out in front and get the job done. It’s nice to think that we’re in a crew that can break some records, set some history and keep moving onwards and upwards.”
In his first big international race, Cedol exclaimed “When we came through under the bridge we knew we were picking up momentum, going quicker and quicker and across the line, it honestly was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had. It was awesome. I couldn’t be proud of all the four of us.”
The Women’s Quadruple Sculls (W4x) of Sarah McKay, Lola Anderson, Cam Nyland and Becky Wilde also won gold in a European Championship Best Time. “I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet,” Sarah explained, “but wow, it’s always been a dream and then it’s finally happened, and in my first senior international race too!”
Lola said it was “one of the quickest runs I’ve ever done in a women’s quad, so we’re happy to come away from the first race of the new Olympic season with gold and already be pumping out quick times. I think it is testament to how much strength and depth there is in this new team, and we’re not finished yet.”
Lauren Henry continued her dominant performances in the Women’s Single Sculls (W1x) to win gold. “I’ve done three Championships in the single, one at juniors and one at U23s and both times I made the A final but came forth twice, so to make the podium and get a gold medal today is really, really special. I wanted to come here and make a mark and make a name for myself and I feel like I’ve done that. I want to be World Champion, I want to be Olympic Champion, I want to break the world best time, I want to be the most successful British single Sculler ever. That’s my aim. I’ve still got many years to go but watch this space!”
The Women’s Eight (W8+) put in a sublime finish to win their race. Eleanor Brinkhoff, Daisy Bellamy, Amelia Standing, Juliette Perry, Lauren Irwin, Martha Birtles, Heidi Long, Megan Slabbert and cox, Jack Tottem, timed it to perfection to take the gold.
Amelia said: “We had a strong start. That’s what we were working on from our heat. And then at about 750 to go, Jack told us to go and we went for it. We slowly wheeled in the Netherlands and got our bow ahead. We haven’t won a gold in this event since 2016, so it’s even more special to bring it back home.”
Martha, who won a bronze medal yesterday in the Four said: “I’m going home with two medals around my neck, which is brilliant! I was in an Olympic sandwich in the boat between Lauren and Heidi and that, especially, in the middle of the race, gave me faith to know that these guys know what they’re doing and that I can just trust the process and do it with them. ”
Lauren said it was a “very special day,” adding “obviously, the past four years training for Paris was unforgettable, but now it’s a new season, and we’re building for a new cycle. We’re looking forward to driving this project forward and seeing what happens.”
The Men’s Eight (M8+) recorded a British record. The crew of Will Stewart, Matt Rowe, Miles Beeson, Fergus Woolnough, David Bewicke-Copley, Sam Nunn, Matt Aldridge, Archie Drummond and cox, Will Denegri, left it to the last strokes after a back and forth tussle, to finish first ahead of the Netherlands.
“It was one of the most fun races I’ve ever been a part of!” Miles exclaimed, adding, “It was really well executed. We knew we had a lot of ground to make up from the heat and we just really committed to the changes we wanted to make and it’s just very exciting that we can achieve that in a few days.”
Will Stewart said: “It was a really good race and I’m proud of the boys as well. We put in a lot of work and felt like we could really commit and trust ourselves to deliver the best performance we could today.”
Sam Nunn commented: “When we went through the thousand, I thought there was a real commitment to what we said we were going to do. We really set up something pretty special in the first half and then we put ourselves right in the race. We had belief that we could finish it off in the second half and coming into the last 500, I felt like the whole crew remained really calm and we were just zoned in on what our cox Will was saying. It’s all about who can cross the finish line first and we managed to do that today. It was really, really epic.”
Cox, Will Denegri summarised: “It was a super tight race. It felt easy for me because we were so well prepared and these guys are so agile and skillful. They’re excellent at responding and adapting. So for me, it was a real joy to ask them for more. It’s also my first senior race so to come away with the gold is amazing, but it’s only the first step and hopefully we can keep stepping on and on through the next five weeks and through the season. This is hopefully only the start.”
