Australian Four charge from behind to make final at Shanghai Worlds

By Rupert Guinness with the Rowsellas in Shanghai

The Australian Men’s Four secured their place in the A-Final of the World Rowing Championships on Wednesday with a come-from-behind third place in their Semi-Final.

Racing on Day Four of the world titles in Shanghai, the crew of Nikolas Pender, Fergus Hamilton, Austin Reinehr and Alexander Hill OAM will race the A-Final on Friday.

The Men’s Four is the second boat from the Rowsellas as to make a medal race, with Erik Horrie having already qualified for the PR1 Single Sculls A-Final on Friday.

“It was a better hit out than the Heats. We are stepping through the regatta nicely,” Hill said.

“We have to find our groove a little bit more. [There are] a few adjustments to make tomorrow, to work on a few more things. It’s good to be in the A-Final.”

Great Britain won their race in 5:52.03 which the fastest time of the two Semis.

In second place was the Netherlands (5:53.83), then Australia (5:55.88).

The second Semi was won by Lithuania (5:54.75), followed by Romania (5:56.3) and France (5:56.94).

Australia still had to fight hard in the second half of the race to overcome the USA and finish in the top three needed to make the A-Final.

Great Britain led from start to finish, but at 500m Australia was in fourth place behind the British, Dutch and USA boats.

The positions remained the same at 1000m, but by then the Australians, stroked by Hill, were closing in on the Americans.

A big push in the third 500m by Australia put them into third place; and at 1500m they were just under two seconds ahead the USA – a distance they held to the finish.

“We trusted our rhythm. We were pretty good for the last half of the race,” Hill said.

It was certainly a pleasing way for the Australians to finish Day 4 after their semi was delayed.

Racing, including the Men’s Fours, was postponed after ‘unfair’ conditions initially delayed the Men’s Double Sculls semis start at 11.11 (13.11 AEST).

The Men’s Double Sculls semis, featuring the Australian crew of Oscar McGuinness and Mitchell Reinhard, have been moved to the morning of Day 5 – Thursday.

But the Men’s Fours Semis that were due to follow the Double Sculls on Wednesday were rescheduled to the 4.30pm (6:30pm AEST) time they were finally raced.

Australian Crews Racing Tomorrow – Day Five

12.05 (AEST) – Women’s Eights Heat 1: Hayley Verbunt OLY (Cox), Paige Barr OLY, Jaime Ford, Laura Gourley OLY, Zara Collisson, Ella Bramwell, Sophie Houston, Katherine Easton, Georgie Gleeson

12: 17 (AEST) – Men’s Eights Heat 1: Nicholas Dunlop (Cox), Patrick Long, Angus Dawson OLY, Alex Nichol, Harry Manton, Marcus Emmett, Jack Robertson OLY, Alexander McClean, Mitch Salisbury

12.57 (AEST) – PR3 Mixed Double Sculls Heat 1: Lisa Greissl, Sam Stunnell

13.21 (AEST) – Men’s Double Sculls Semi 2: Oscar McGuinness, Mitchell Reinhard

15.35 (AEST) – Women’s Pairs B-Final: Taylor Caudle, Eleanor Price

15.53 (AEST) – Men’s Quadruple Sculls B-Final: Nicholas Blackman, Johnson Daubney, Jackson Free, Alexander Rossi

How to Follow the 2025 World Rowing Championships

Here is how to follow the event on mobile, tablet, or desktop:

1. The provisional time table for the events can be found here and entries for all the events can be found here.

2. Live race tracker and LIVE audio will be available for ALL races on www.worldrowing.com.

3. LIVE video streaming will be available on the World Rowing website, Foxtel, and Kayo Sports from Sunday September 21 from 12.00 AEST. The video streaming will start 5 minutes before the first race.

Meet your 2025 World Rowing Championships Rowsellas