By Rupert Guinness, Australian Rowing Teams Media Manager
The Australian Rowing Team (ART) capped an impressive World Cup III campaign in Lucerne with a haul of nine medals after the three-day regatta concluded on Sunday.
Eleven of the ART’s 20 boats made medal races and came away with two Gold, three Silver and four Bronze medals – five in Olympic class events and four in Paralympic events.
Thirty-three athletes won medals, including every member of the Para rowing squad.
Australia's impressive medal haul saw them finish third on the overall medal tally. Great Britain was first with six Golds, one Silver and one Bronze for eight medals. The US was second with three Gold, two Silver, four bronzes for nine medals.
There is still plenty of scope for improvement in the ART, but it was a brilliant outcome for Australia in the most prestigious regatta on the world calendar outside the Olympic and Paralympic Games and World Championships; especially with it being team’s final international test before the 2026 World Championships at Amsterdam in August.
The strong showing by the ART reflects the support from Hancock Prospecting and commitment of RA Patron Mrs Gina Rinehart AO. From trials to crew selection, and the big stage of international competition, Hancock Prospecting’s investment plays a pivotal role in enabling Australian crews to prepare, perform and succeed globally.
For well over a decade, Mrs Rinehart has been the single largest private backer of Australian rowing. Her generosity and commitment to ensuring the sport’s elite athletes have the support they need to represent Australia on the world stage has been transformative.
“I’m delighted and incredibly proud of the performance from our rowers on one of the sport’s biggest stages, the World Cup. To come away with an impressive medal tally when competing against the very best in the world speaks volumes to the dedication and proud Aussie spirit of our talented athletes,” Mrs Rinehart said.
“Behind every medal is a journey years in the making – involving relentless preparation and unforgiving training, often in the cold weather and at a time of day before most people get out of bed. This type of dedication, forged day-in, day-out and away from the spotlight, is what makes the difference and wins medals.
“I congratulate our rowers, their coaches, families, friends and support staff on their achievements at this renowned event. You have done Australia proud.”
RA also acknowledges the significant support from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the Australian Government, whose investment enables athletes, coaches and programs to perform on the world stage and represent our nation with pride.
Across the crews, the Women’s Eight backed up their World Cup 1 Gold in Seville with Silver on Sunday and were declared the 2026 World Cup series champions in the event.
The Para rowing squad delivered the ART’s first medal on Saturday with a Bronze in the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four, setting the tone for Australia to win eight more medals on Day 3.
Nine Australian boats featured in eight medal races - the Women’s Eight with two qualified boats, the Women’s Four, Women’s Single Sculls, Men’s Eight, Men’s Pair, Men’s Quad Sculls, PR1 Men’s Single Sculls and PR3 Mixed Double Sculls.
Australia’s Golds were in the Men’s Pair and PR3 Women’s Pair. Silvers were in the Women’s Eight, Women’s Four and PR1 Men’s Single Sculls. With the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four, the Men’s Eight, Women’s Single Sculls and the PR3 Double Sculls winning Bronze.
For World Cup III on the pristine Rotsee, Australia’s entry of 20 boats across 15 events was drawn from its Senior, ‘Australia A’ and Para rowing squads. Performances by all crews at Lucerne will go into RA’s determination of its final selection of the ‘Rowsellas’ team for the 2026 World Championships at Amsterdam, Netherlands on August 24-30.
Rowing Australia Performance Director Paul Thompson MBE said after Day 3 of World Cup III: "Showed our potential. The most pleasing part was how the crews raced, very offensively and they fought hard all the way through.
“A special shout out to Alex Hill and Angus Dawson in the Men’s Pair and Wallis Russell and Susannah Lutze in the PR3 Women’s Pair for their Gold Medal performances.
“We all know that we had a great regatta this weekend and that the fields will be deeper and faster come the Amsterdam World Championships.”
Gold medal races
Susannah Lutze and Wallis Russell celebrate gold. Photo: Patrick Boere
In the Men’s Pair, the Australian crew of Angus Dawson OLY and Alex Hill OAM OLY heralded their return to the World Cup stage with a magnificent victory. The Australians won (6:33.35) from the fast-finishing US (6:35.97), followed by Switzerland (6:36.99).
Spain was fastest out of the blocks, but by 500m Australia was in the lead, followed by Switzerland and Greece. Australia’s lead extended by 1000m where they had 3.31 seconds on Switzerland and the rest of the field, and by 1500m their lead was 5.28 seconds.
By this stage the Australians were never in doubt of winning, whereas behind the race for Silver was a thriller, leading to the US passing Switzerland just before the line for second place.
For Hill and Dawson, this win in their second international regatta for the year but first in the World Cup, sets them up nicely for their World Championships preparation.
Asked how he felt after the win on Sunday, Hill replied: “Super stoked ….
“We have rowed together twice at the national ‘champs.’ It’s great to be out here in the final, especially here at Lucerne. To come away with a win is really good. It's always special to wear the green and gold in these moments, and we're grateful to Hancock Prospecting and our Patron Mrs Gina Rinehart who help make this possible.”
Dawson concurred: "We're really happy with the win. It's the first big race. Our goal was to progress through Heats, Semi-Final … We delivered a really good product in the final.
“It’s our first hit out. We’re still learning more about each other, and how our race plan gels. So, we’ll go back to Italy [to train] and iron a few things out.”
In the PR3 Women's Pair A-final, Australia's Susannah Lutze and Wallis Russell added a Gold Medal to the Bronze they won in the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four on Friday.
The Australians took a decisive early lead over Japan and never looked back en route to their win (8:04.34) over Japan (10:37.46) in second place.
"There was a bit of a head (wind) in the first ‘k’ which we weren't expecting, but we managed to get into a nice rhythm and push it out to the finish," Lutze said.
Russell said they never underestimated Japan, even though they finished well clear.
“In Para rowing … it's always evolving. But you just have to stick to your race plan, have faith in your crew, and execute as well as possible,” Russell said.
“You never know who's going rock up at the start and what training everyone's done.”
Silver medal races
Silver for the Australian Women's Eight Senior Crew. Photo: Patrick Boere
In the Women’s Eights, Australia had two crews racing – the Senior crew that won Gold at World Cup I in Seville and ‘Australia A’ that won at the recent Holland Beker regatta.
The Silver medal went to the Australian Senior crew of Georgie Gleeson, Eliza Gaffney, Lily Triggs OLY, Ella Bramwell, Samantha Morton, Paige Barr OLY, Jaime Ford, Laura Gourley OLY, and cox Hayley Verbunt OLY after a mighty tussle with the winners, Great Britain that saw Australia only 0.67 seconds shy of the win after terrific charge home.
Great Britain won (6:08.54) from Australia (6:09.21) while the US (6:11.26) finished third. Meanwhile, the ‘Australia A’ crew of Sophie Barr, Taylor Caudle, Jean Mitchell OLY, Gabriela Morton Van Eybergen, Sophie Houston, Sarah Marriott, Caitlin McManus Barrett, Star Rose Miller, and cox Anna O’Hanlon also finished fifth.
Paige Barr, six seat in the Silver Medal winning Australian Eight, said of their A-Final performance: “We weren't quite sure what the wind was doing. It was a bit of a tail [wind], then it was a head, then tail, and then through the race it seemed to be a head.
“But the tactic was the same, keep the pressure on and try to put down a good race. “
Barr feels the crew believes they can lift more before the World Championships, saying: “We would like to keep building on it, see where we can take it, especially coming into the ‘mega’ regatta, the World Championships at the end of the year. The opportunity is there, and it helps knowing we're supported every step of the way by our partners Hancock Prospecting and Mrs Gina Rinehart.”
In the Women’s Four, the Australian crew of Giorgia Patten OLY, Bronwyn Cox OLY, Jacqueline Swick, and Georgie Rowe OLY threw everything in their bid to win Gold.
While they came away with a Silver Medal, as they did in World Cup I in Seville, their performance was on another level and augurs well for the World Championships.
First were the World Champions, the US (6:30.18), from Australia (6:34.26) in second and Great Britain (6:37.14) in third.
But the Australians have certainly turned heads in the rowing world with their progress. They bolted from the start and led through the 1000m, but then they were only 0.75 ahead of the US whose known mid-race power really put the pressure on Australia.
However, Australia matched the charge from the US stroke for stroke until just before the 1500m when the US passed and then surged away to win with open water to spare.
It was a similar race for the bronze medal, where Great Britain passed Netherlands at the 1500m, and went on to secure third place.
Bow seat Giorgia Patten said: “We threw everything at that race. I think we took some good learnings from Seville, and we really tried to implement them today, and a couple of them worked and a couple we will reassess.”
The Women’s team will now return to Sydney and to the Hancock Prospecting National Training Centre in Penrith where Patten says they will “build from what was another great racing experience for us.”
In the PR1 Men’s Single Sculls, Erik Horrie OAM PLY finished second to win the Silver Medal. The Gold went to Great Britain’s Benjamin Pritchard (9:03.94) who won from Horrie (9:18.09), followed by Frenchman Alexis Sanchez (9:28.95) in third.
Horrie said he had no set goal for World Cup III. “There were no expectations,” he said.
“We've changed the complete setup and how I row. We're using this [regatta] as a bit of a test event. It's just basically trying new stuff and getting out there and having fun.
“As far as a result, whenever you get to sit in an A-Final, it doesn't matter where it is, it's a privilege.
“I'm lucky to wear the ‘Green and Gold’ and be on a podium next to athletes like Ben.
“Ben's the next generation. I remember when he started. I'm the grandad of the PR1 category. It's always good fun keeping up with the young guys.”
Bronze medal races
Tara Rigney competing in the Women's Single Sculls. Photo: Patrick Boere
In the Men’s Eights, the Australian crew shone well in their international test to stay with the lead pace and eventually claim a much-deserved Bronze Medal.
For the crew of Patrick Holt, Alex Nichol, Jack Robertson, Harry Manton, Fergus Hamilton, Patrick Long, Mitch Salisbury, Rohan Lavery, and cox Nicholas Dunlop, the result has given them much confidence for their World Championship campaign.
In Sunday’s final, the World Champion Netherlands got the best start and had a slight lead at 500m. But then the Dutch found themselves under pressure in the middle 1000m as Great Britain made inroads, along with crews from Australia and Germany.
At the 1500m, the Dutch still led by about a second as the world champions held the field at bay, while Australia led Germany in the fight for the bronze-medal.
In the closing metres the British were closing in on the Dutch with every stroke, but they Dutch had just enough to win, and claim victory by 0.24 seconds.
Australian stroke Rohan Lavery and bowman Paddy Holt were pleased with how they went as a crew on their first hit out, speaking from opposite ends of the boat.
Lavery said: “It's our first regatta together. So, it's a good stepping stone. A medal is nice, but we want to keep pushing ourselves on as we go on.”
Holt said: “Obviously we are disappointed we didn't win. Everyone wants to win every race they're in, but it was better than Friday [the Heat] and better than it was at the end of last week [in training]. The whole team will take stock and see how we've all gone.”
The Women’s Single Sculls saw Australia’s Tara Rigney showed she has made great inroads on journey back to international competition with a super Bronze Medal win.
Rigney, in her second international regatta since returning from a post Paris 2024 break a few months ago, almost won the Silver off a gutsy and determined chase of Irish World Champion Fiona Murtagh. While she missed the Silver, her strong finish on top of a confident and assured race up to that point was a large mark up on her return to World Cup racing at World Cup I in Seville where she missed the A-Final but won the B-Final.
The race was won by Great Britain’s Lauren Henry (7:33.18) who was slow out of the start and raced through the field to win from Murtagh (7:37.79) in second, followed by Rigney (7:38.09) for whom the Bronze was her first in a World Cup since 2024.
The Bronze has given Rigney – a former Gina Rinehart AO Leadership Award winner - an ideal platform from which she can build on when she resumes training in Sydney.
Rigney reflected on her time out from rowing and then up until recent training while working fulltime.
“When I think back to when I was worrying about what to do … trying to work full time, use weekends to train, waking up at 4:30 for a row, using my lunch break to train, and going back to work till eight and then hopping on the ergo … it felt a bit silly at the time, but I think it gave me just enough to hang on for races like today,” she said.
Rigney said she arrived in Lucerne knowing she needed a more measured race strategy than she had employed in Seville, acknowledging there was still plenty of room for improvement.
“At World Cup I, my head was further ahead than my body,” Rigney said. “This regatta has been all about going towards that line and knowing it is not where it used to be.”
In the PR3 Mixed Double Sculls the crew of Ella Marshall and Sam Stunell won Bronze, ensuring that every member of the Para rowing squad would leave Lucerne with a medal.
Germany’s Valentin Luz and Kathrin Marchand (7:12.64) won from the Ukraine’s Stanislav Samoliuk and Dariia Kotyk (7:16.38), and Marshall and Stunell (7:18.89).
In the Men’s Quadruple Sculls A-Final, the Australian crew of Cormac Kennedy-Leverett, Johnson Daubney, Jackson Free, and Marcus Della Marta placed sixth to sign off on a World Cup campaign that still showed plenty of promise looking ahead.
While off the pace behind Great Britain (5:54.92) who won from Netherlands (5:55.66) and then Germany (5:56.69), Australia’s showing will not be defined by their sixth place (6:10.49); but for a thrilling heat in which they almost beat Germany and their qualifying Semi-Final that confirmed their photo finish heat result was no flash in the pan.
B-FINALS
The ART had seven boats race in B-Finals on Sunday, with three of them winning.
The Women’s Pair of Emmie Frederico and Katherine Easton set the tone for the day with their win (7:19.63) from South Africa (7:20.73) and Ireland (7:24.03).
In the Men's Four, the ‘Australia A’ crew of Henry Blackwell, Alexander MacLean, Ben Canham OLY, and Benjamin Scott won (6:02.37) from Denmark (6:02.61) and ‘Australia 1’ with Charles Batrouney, Lachlan Doust, Darcy Watter, Jackson Kench (6:03.15).
The third win was in Women’s Quadruple Sculls where the Australian crew of Romy Cantwell, Sarah Fahd, Sara de Uray, and Emily Sheppard won (6:31.36) from Poland (6:32.32) and China (6:33.43).
Second place finishes went to Annabelle McIntyre OAM OLY in the Women’s Single Sculls and Oscar McGuinness and Nicholas Blackman in the Men’s Double Sculls.
In the Men’s Pair, the ‘Australia A’ crew of Mackenzie Thompson and Alexander Baroni finished sixth.