Rowsellas get two from three boats into Semis on Day One of 2025 World Titles

By Rupert Guinness with the Rowsellas in Shanghai 

The Rowsellas kicked off their 2025 World Rowing Championship campaign with two of the three crews that raced on day one of the regatta qualifying for the Semi-Finals. 

The Australian Men’s Quadruple Sculls and Women’s Pairs both made the Semis to be raced on Tuesday, while the Men’s Pair missed out but will still race on Tuesday in the D-Final. 

Day one of the world titles that finish next Sunday made for fast racing, with a strong tail wind prevailing in overcast skies and temperatures that reached a cooler 27 degrees.

In the Men’s Quad Sculls, the crew of Nicholas Blackman (bow), Johnson Daubney (two), Jackson Free (three) and Alexander Rossi (stroke) clocked a crew-best time. 

The Australians, coached by David Fraumano, placed fourth in their heat, the fastest of three races that was won by Italy in 5:38.09, from Ukraine (5:40.41) and Spain (5:40.84). 

The first two finishers of each heat automatically qualified for the semis. With the next six fastest crews earning the remaining slots, with Australia’s time of 5:43.86 keeping them safe. 

The task now for the Australian boat is to make the Finals that will be held on Thursday. 

Rossi said the crew will take a lot from their first World Championship outing as a crew. 

“It was fast water and a fast field. We were definitely ready for that,” Rossi said. 

“We came out of the start pretty quickly. It was just in the middle of the race that we didn’t really hold on to our speed as much as we should have. 

“But every time we get out on the water we get more and more together. 

“Heading into the Semi-Final, we know what to work on.” 

Blackman was clear about the one area the crew had to focus on from here.  

“We talked about posture. We executed that well through the race,” Blackman said. 

“Now it is about bringing a bit of arrogance to our rowing.” 

In the Women’s Pair, the Xavier Dorfman-coached Australian crew of Taylor Caudle (bow) and Eleanor Price (stroke) placed fourth in the third of three Heats. 

They also needed a top two finish to automatically qualify for the Semis, or for their finishing time to be among the six fastest boats of those who initially missed out. 

Australia’s heat was also the fastest of the three, with Romania winning it in 6:51.72 from Switzerland (6:59.23) and Lithuania (7:03.76). 

But their time of 7:09.32 was the fifth fastest of the six other boats that still qualified. 

The road ahead for the Pair now leads to their Semi-Final on Tuesday and, pending their performance, a place in the Final on Thursday. 

Caudle believes they will be better for their heat with their scope for improvement. 

“A first hit out is super important to figure out what the competition is like and what the water is like, and we did that which is great,” Caudle said.

“We’re still a young crew, so we are learning a lot each time we go out, and we'll keep learning a lot.” 

Asked what her and Price must do between now and Tuesday’s semi, Caudle said: “Have lots of recovery, and then tomorrow we might have a hit out for a couple of strokes, just kind of working on that pace a little; but ultimately, just recovering.”

In the Men’s Pair, the Australian crew of Fraser Miscamble (bow) and Nicholas Smith (stroke), coached by Nick Mitchell, missed the semis. 

In their heat, the second of four held, Australia placed fifth in 6:39.27. The race was won by Romania in 6:20.62 from Ireland (6:24.33), Denmark (6:27.05) and then AIN (6:34.14). 

To automatically qualify for the semis, they also needed a top two finish.

However, with four heats raced, only the next first four fastest finishers rather than six went through. 

Australian Crews Racing Tomorrow – Day Two

12.15 (AEST) – PR1 Men’s Single Sculls Heats: Erik Horrie 

13.01 (AEST) – Men’s Double Sculls Heats: Oscar McGuinness, Mitchell Reinhard 

13.21 (AEST) – Women’s Fours Heats: Emmie Frederico, Eliza Gaffney, Georgina Rowe, Jacqeline Swick  

13.33 am (AEST) – Men’s Fours: Nikolas Pender, Fergus Hamilton, Austin Reinehr, Alex Hill 

16.23 pm (AEST) – Women’s Single Sculls: Romy Cantwell

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