It’s coming home… Great Britain Wins World Rowing Cup
Two golds and a bronze seal the series win in Lucerne
Sunday 29 June 2025 – Great Britain has won the World Rowing Cup series. Two golds and a bronze medal won today in Lucerne ensured that the trophy was heading home to GB with the 27 points won in Lucerne added to the 45 points amassed at the first World Cup in Varese.
The Men’s quadruple sculls (M4x) saw Cedol Dafydd, Callum Dixon, Matt Haywood and Rory Harris power through the Polish crew who had led all the way to 1750, in an epic sprint for the line to take the gold.
Matt said: “We struggled a little bit coming off the back of Plovdiv, with the success there, and then Callum being ill in Varese, so for us to come back in just a couple of weeks is a true testament of the work we’ve done. We showed true grit and willpower to get our bowball in front at the end. Christian (Felkel), our coach says ‘it doesn’t matter where you come through, it doesn’t matter where it happens, just make it happen’, and today it only happened in the last 250, but it was there.”
Commenting on the sprint finish, Rory said: “It sounds weird to say, but I had total confidence in us that I just felt I needed to set the tempo, and these guys were with me. I felt that we could row through the Polish and we just wouldn’t give up. Christian always talks about ‘keep inching’… and we just kept moving the whole time, even if it was a little bit, we kept moving.”
Callum added: “We kept our heads and stuck to the plan. We responded to the calls really well and are very happy to come away with the win. We feel like this project all builds off what we did last year and builds off the year before, so we’re stepping on each time.”
Lauren Henry was challenged by Ireland’s Fiona Murtagh in the women’s single sculls (W1x), but pulled away in the final 500 to seal another victory. Speaking after picking up her gold medal, she said: “It’s special because the world is here. I think in this event in Lucerne, everyone that I’ve raced so far this season has been here, so it’s good to see where I’m at. The World Championships are still quite a long way away, so a lot can change, but I’m going to take what I’ve learned in this racing block and put in some more work to find where I can improve.
Speaking about sealing the World Rowing Cup win for Great Britain, she added: “I’m so pleased! It has been a team effort with so many of our boats contributing to the win. It’s so special for us to win the World Cup. I was told it was quite close earlier, so I’m really, really pleased that I managed to get the points we needed to win the trophy!”
The Women’s Pair (W2-) was a fantastic race with Eleanor Brinkhoff and Megan Slabbert battling throughout. With Romania leading, the GB pair were just pipped on the line by the Czechia crew to take the bronze.
Eleanor said: “We knew the Romanians would be fast, but there were a couple of us who were close in speed during the semis, so we thought it would be a fight to get into the medals and then I think we were leading for silver, but then just didn’t quite have it in the tank. It’s been a tough block of racing and training, but it has made us hungry for more next time. It’s nice to have something today to show for our efforts in the last couple of months.”
Megan added: “Every race has been a step on and something to learn from. I might be biased, but I do think the pair is one of the toughest events and with us still being fairly new into the senior squad, it’s exciting to be in the pack and winning medals at the start of the Olympiad.”
Both GBR Women’s four (W4-) crews were in the A final, as an opportunity to see how they fare against crews from across the world. In hot conditions, it was a tight race with Daisy Bellamy, Lauren Irwin, Heidi Long and Eve Stewart (GBR1) just missing out on a podium place, in fourth. The GBR2 crew of Lizzie Witt, Martha Birtles, Juliette Perry, and Amelia Standing were sixth.
Jake Wincomb, Dan Graham, James Vogel and Joshua Bowesman-Jones kept the leading Kiwi’s in sight throughout the Men’s four (M4-) race to finish their B final in a close second place (eighth overall).
The Women’s Double Sculls (W2x) B final was a hard fought race with Sarah McKay and Lola Anderson (GBR1) finishing third and Cam Nyland and Vwairé Obukohwo (GBR2) crossing the line in fifth, meaning they finished ninth and eleventh overall.
Tobias Schröder and Jamie Gare are continuing to build their race experience in the Men’s double sculls (M2x). They finished third (ninth overall) in the B final. Tom Barras (GBR2) was fourth in his Men’s single sculls (M1x) B final (tenth overall).
