World Cup 1, Seville – Day 2: Rowsellas book in for three medal races

The Australian Rowing Team has qualified three crews racing for medal races on Day 3 of World Cup I in Seville, Spain on Sunday, after the new-look Women’s Pair of Katherine Easton and Emmie Frederico qualified for the A-Final with third place in Saturday’s Semi-finals.

Australia will also feature in two B-Finals Sunday. Former Gina Rinehart AO Leadership Award recipient, Tara Rigney OLY, will race the Women’s Single Sculls B-Final after placing fourth in Saturday’s Semi-Finals, as will the Quadruple Sculls crew after a third on debut in Friday’s Heats.

Saturday’s performances in the heat of Seville again showed promise for Rowing Australia’s high-performance program that is underpinned by more than a decade of support from Hancock Prospecting and enduring commitment of Rowing Australia Patron Mrs Gina Rinehart AO. From national selection trials to crew selection, and now the big stage of international competition, Hancock Prospecting’s investment plays a pivotal role in enabling Australian crews to prepare, perform and succeed against the world’s best in events like the World Cup regattas.

RA also acknowledges the support of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Australian Sports Commission (ASC), and Australian Government, whose investment enables athletes, coaches and programs to perform on the world stage.

“Three A-Finals from five competitive boats is a solid start to the season for the women's squad,” RA Performance Director Paul Thomspon said.

“The crews are looking towards tomorrow’s [Sunday’s] finals with confidence and optimism.”

In the Women’s Pair Semi-Finals, Frederico and Easton showed no fear on Saturday as they raced from Lane 4 in Semi-Final 1.

The Xavier Dorfman coached crew that won their heat on Friday started strongly and found themselves right in the fray in their second race together for the top three finish that they needed to make the A-Final.

At 500m, Australia led by 0.29 from Chile’s Melita Abraham and Antonia Abraham. While they dropped to second place at 1000m behind Chile, they were still only 0.91 behind at that critical point of the race.

At 1500m, Australia was third, but by then the first three crews had all but secured their A-Final berths as they gained on the rest of the field.

Chile won (7:12.89) the race from a fast-finishing Lithuania (7:14.57) who moved up to second in the last 500m. However, Australia (7:16.48) still finished third, and more than six seconds clear of fourth place.

For the Australians, there is all to gain in the A-Final, from the chance of winning a medal to gaining experience to serve them well in the future.

“It's so exciting, that was our second race ever together,” Frederico told World Rowing.com afterwards.

“I feel like it's exciting to see what we can do together.”

In the Women’s Single Sculls Semi-Finals, Rigney, in her first international season since placing fourth at the 2024 Paris Olympics, started well, racing in Lane 1.

She was second at 500m behind France’s Emma Lunatti, and ahead of the two major favourites - Ireland’s Fiona Murtagh, the 2025 World Champion and Great Britain’s Lauren Henry who was the silver medallist at last year’s world championships in Shanghai.

But Rigney, rating the lowest of front runners, was unable to sustain her position. She was passed in the second 500m by Henry and then Lauren to drop to fourth and in need of a strong finish to make the A-Final.

While the front three shored up their A-Final berths; Rigney bridged some of the gap between her and third place needed to make the medal race. But it was beyond her. Lauren won (7:30.67) from Lunatti (7:32.57) in second, Murtagh (7:35.92) in third, and Rigney (7:37.90) in fourth.

In Heat 2, the first three finishers to also make Sunday’s A-Final were the 2024 Olympic Bronze Medal winner, Lithuania’s Viktorija Senkute (7:35.98) who won, followed by Roos de Jong of Netherlands (7:36.21) in second place and Germany’s Alexandra Foester (7:38.17) in third.

In the Women’s Eight A-Final on Sunday, the Ellen Randell coached Australian crew will look for early race speed, based on the lessons learned from their third place in Friday’s Preliminary race.

On Friday, the crew of Georgie Gleeson (bow), Eliza Gaffney (2), Lily Triggs OLY (3), Ella Bramwell (4), Samantha Morton (5), Paige Barr OLY (6), Jaime Ford (7), Laura Gourley OLY (s) and Hayley Verbunt OLY (coxswain) raced well. But on Sunday, they will need to start faster.

As 5 Seat Samantha Morton said after the heat: “Fire last km, even more fire last 500m … working on making the first ‘km’ the most fire of all.”

Stroke Laura Gourley said Friday provided much to learn from with World Cup III Lucerne and the World Championships in mind.

“We’re happy with our first race together,” Gourley said.

“[It was a] solid starting point to keep progressing through to Lucerne and the rest of the season.”

In the Women’s Four A-Final, Australia are a medal hope based on their winning form in Friday’s heat in the fastest time of the two races.

Georgia Patten OLY (bow), Bronwyn Cox OLY (2), Jacqueline Swick OLY (3) and Georgie Rowe OLY (stroke) led from the start to finish.

The new-look James Harris-coached Australian crew’s winning time (6:36.28) was faster than the winner of Heat 1, Netherlands (6:37.24).

In the Women’s Quad Sculls B-Final on Sunday, the new Australian crew coached by Jamie McDonald faces a prime opportunity in their second race together to build on an impressive third place in their heat.

For Romy Cantwell (bow), Emily Sheppard (2), Sara de Uray (3) and Sarah Fahd (stroke), a strong showing will set them up well for their preparation for World Cup III, as it will for all the Australian crews.

Australian Crews Racing Sunday – Day Three

17.35 (AEST) – Women’s Quadruple Sculls B-Final (Lane 3): Romy Cantwell, Emily Sheppard, Sara de Uray, Sarah Fahd

17.45 (AEST) – Women’s Single Sculls B-Final (Lane 4): Tara Rigney OLY

19.05 (AEST) – Women’s Pair A-Final (Lane 1): Emmie Frederico, Katherine Easton

19.57 (AEST) – Women’s Four A-Final (Lane 4): Georgia Patten OLY, Bronwyn Cox OLY, Jacqueline Swick OLY, Georgie Rowe OLY

21.19 (AEST) – Women’s Eight A-Final (Lane 4): Georgie Gleeson, Eliza Gaffney, Lily Triggs OLY, Ella Bramwell, Samantha Morton, Paige Barr OLY, Jaime Ford, Laura Gourley OLY, (cox) Hayley Verbunt OLY

HOW TO FOLLOW 2026 WORLD CUP I – Seville: June 5-7

Follow the action across Rowing Australia’s social channels.

The provisional timetable for the events can be found here, and entries for all the races are available here.

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

LIVE video streaming will be available on the World Rowing website on Saturday, 30 May for the Semifinals and A-Finals, as well as on Sunday, 31 May for the A-Finals. The video streaming will start 5 minutes before the first race.