Australia finished the Filippi Lido Beach Sprint Regatta at Marina di Castagneto in Tuscany, Italy with positive signs and plenty of lessons to learn from before the 2026 World Beach Sprint Finals in Qingdao, China in October.
The regatta exposed the Australian team to the standard of competition it will face at the 2028 Olympics. The regatta, which was the final of four regatta prize money series hosted by the Italian Rowing Federation and Rowing Australia Official Partner Filippi, attracted 31 nations and over 400 competitors. With nations able to enter multiple crews the standard was extremely high and the fields deep.The regatta also demonstrated how unpredictable Beach Sprint racing can be due to adverse and unpredictable weather and sea conditions that test the technical skills of athletes in rough water, and their mental capacity to cope with inevitable race delays, capsizes and near collisions.The opportunity to experience such a key step of preparation for the 2028 Olympics reflects the unwavering support of Rowing Australia Patron Mrs Gina Rinehart AO and Hancock Prospecting that has underpinned RA’s High Performance program for 10 years. It also reflects the support for RA from the Australian Institute of Sport, Australian Sports Commission, Australian Olympic Committee, Australian Government, NSWIS, Commonwealth Games Australia, and Filippi boats.
The Filippi Lido Beach Sprint regatta was the first chance to measure where Australia sits against the rapidly evolving international standard in one of rowing’s newest and fastest-moving disciplines. The regatta delivered a valuable measure of experience and lessons.
After arriving in Italy, the Australian team prepared for its season debut for a week at RA’s European Training Centre [ETC] in Gavirate. But the step up to competition like what they experienced provided the next steep learning curve athletes needed.
Australia showed its potential in the Time Trial of the Mixed Double Sculls with NSW’s Oscar Scheel Gamborg and Isabella Scammell finishing 6th from a field of 39 and 2.72 seconds off 3rd place, progressing to the knockout round. The challenging winds, waves and chop were handled better by Austrians Fabian Gillhofer and Olympic medallist Magdalena Lobnig, beating the Australians with better steering.
The team, coached by Olympic Gold Medallist Spencer Turrin OAM, went into the June 5-7 regatta with an open mind to learn, understanding the long-term benefits of such challenges and from the fierce competition they have identified opportunities to improve in the lead up to the Australian Beach Sprint Championships and further Australian Team Trials prior to the World Beach Sprint Finals.
Oscar Scheel Gamborg and Isabella Scammell impressed with respective places of 17th (from 65) and 27th (from 50) in the Men’s and Women’s Beach Sprint Solo time trials. Gamborg was one place out from the Top 16 to progress into the knockout rounds.
West Australia’s Alexander Rossi and ACT’s Catherine Khan produced confident performances from which they will learn looking towards World Beach Sprint Finals selection. In the Beach Sprint Solo time trials, they placed 50th and 38th respectively. In the Beach Sprint Mixed Double Sculls time trial, they placed 27th.
RA Performance Director, Paul Thompson MBE said that Australia’s Beach Sprint program will only benefit from the experiences and lessons of the Filippi Lido Beach Sprint Regatta.
“The Filippi Lido Beach Sprint regatta gave the rowers exactly the experience we were hoping for, tough international racing.” Thompson said.
“They handled the racing environment in challenging conditions well and they now have a base to springboard from towards this year's World Beach Sprint Finals.”
The Australian team will now return to Australia where members will resume training for the Australian Championships on the Gold Coast in September where the team for the World Beach Sprint Finals in Qingdao, China in October will be selected.
RA, meanwhile, will review the lessons learned from Tuscany and share them among Australia’s broader group of Beach Sprint athletes in a bid to help strengthen the standard and depth of talent as the sport steers towards the 2028 Olympics.
Facilitating this vision has been the emergence of Beach Sprint training hubs in Australia, with athletes based in Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Queensland.
The plan is to build stronger collaboration between RA, the State Institutes and Clubs, and put Australian Beach Sprint in the strongest position possible the 2028 Olympics.
How to look back at the Filippi Lido Beach Sprint regatta
For streaming of the Filippi Lido Beach Sprint Regatta click HERE
For all results click HERE
For more information on the Filippi Lido Beach Sprint Regatta go direct to the Filippi Lido Beach Sprint regatta site HERE
By Rupert Guinness, Rowing Australia Teams Media Manager
Photo credit: Luca Pagliaricci