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By Rupert Guinness with the Rowsellas in Shanghai
Hopes are high that the Rowsellas will be rewarded with medals at the 2025 World Championships in Shanghai, China.
But just as importantly, says Rowing Australia Performance Director Paul Thompson MBE, the titles will also confirm that the team is back on the right trajectory for a successful 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
As the 40-strong Rowsellas team fine-tuned preparations on Tuesday for the world championships, which run for a week from Sunday, Thompson was optimistic about their prospects.
That is understandable, considering their results at the World Cup regattas in Varese and Lucerne, followed by the Henley Royal Regatta and then a final training block back in Australia.
The team, including 29 debutants, will race in 11 boats at Shanghai. They are the Men’s and Women’s Eight, Men’s and Women’s Four, Men’s and Women’s Pair, Men’s Double Scull, Men's Quad Scull, Women’s Single Scull, Para PR3 Mixed Double Scull and PR1 Men’s Single Scull.
“The team has a good vibe. They're determined and have been working well together,” Thompson said. “They hope to do themselves and Australia proud with how they race.”
Thompson is confident Australian rowing has moved on from the 2024 Olympics and firmly has its sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“We thoroughly reviewed 2024 and have put in place strong principles that underpin our programs. We have also seen new athletes emerge and develop and have added talented coaches and staff to a forward-looking program,” Thompson said."We have seen some green shoots coming through the World Cup series and Henley Royal Regatta, not just in terms of results but in how the crews were rowing and executing their races.”
However, Thompson still called for measured expectations of the Rowsellas at Shanghai.
“We've got 29 debutants in the team, so obviously we want to have an impact here,” he said. “But everybody wants to win medals… always more than there are medals available.“We need to be realistic and go step by step through that. But we've got some really good crews, and I think that we're going to go deep into the competition with them.“
Asked what would be deemed a successful regatta in Shanghai, Thompson said: “Firstly, we need to see that the potential we've got equals the level that they're racing.
“We've got some good crews and we've got some crews that are still developing."If we can get the speed out of the boats, we'll see some of them challenging in the medal zone.”
The Rowsellas showed plenty of promise in their European campaign this year.
The Men’s Four, stroked by Olympic champion Alexander Hill OAM, won World Cup Golds at Varese and Lucerne before joining half of the Men’s Eight to win the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley. The Women’s Four won Silvers at Varese and Lucerne.
In the Eights, the Australian men were fifth at Varese and won Silver at Lucerne, while the women won Bronze at both World Cups.
Meanwhile, in the two Para boats, Erik Horrie OAM PLY won Gold in the PR1 Single Sculls at the two World Cups, while the crew of Lisa Greissl and Sam Stunnell won Silver in the PR3 Mixed Double Sculls at both regattas.
Asked about Rowing Australia’s selection, Thompson cited “boat speed.”
"There have been three selection streams for this World Championships, through the internal trialling process in Australia where the Men's and Women's Fours and the men's sculling boats were formed,” Thompson said.“An Australia A squad made up primarily of graduating Australians studying at US Colleges has enabled selection of the Men's and Women's Eights and the Women's Pair.“We also assessed outstanding performances from the U23 World Championships which enabled U23 World Championships Single Scull medallist Romy Cantwell to join the team in Shanghai to race in the Women's Single Scull."While a small squad, our two Para boats have demonstrated some fabulous speed.“Our first step is to get crews to qualify boats for the Olympics."The next step is to get boats in the final and then the medals. We'll have crews capable of being in all those categories.”
How to Follow the 2025 World Rowing Championships
The first races will start September 21 at 12:05 AEST. The medal races start September 25 at 16:05 AEST.
Here is how to follow the event on mobile, tablet, or desktop:
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The provisional time table for the events can be found here and entries for all the events can be found here.
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Live race tracker and LIVE audio will be available for ALL races on www.worldrowing.com.
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LIVE video streaming will be available on the World Rowing website on 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
