Image Credit: World Rowing
As the Paris Olympic cycle comes to an end, the global rowing community is already turning its gaze to the 2025 season. The stage is set for a new quadrennial with legendary athletes returning and fresh talents ready to emerge. This article dives into the nations and combinations poised to make waves in women’s sweep events – highlighting the athletes, rivalries, and stories shaping our sport’s next chapter.
The Netherlands brought home two gold medals, with the four winning by a whisker in an incredible sprint and the pair winning by the largest margin of any event at the Olympic Games. If Veronique Meester and Ymkje Clevering stay paired up, they could be on track to become the next “Kiwi pair” and stamp their mark on the history books even further. The Dutch recently fielded a women’s eight for Basel Head, with four Olympic champions in the women’s crew (Meester from the pair, Offereins/Drenth from the four, and Youssifou from the quad). If a Dutch women’s eight is back on the roster, that will add significant excitement to an ordinarily small women’s eight field – in 2022, they won silver at the World Rowing Championships while doubling up into the smaller boats.
Great Britain won silver in the women’s four and bronze in the women’s eight in Paris, and none of those 13 athletes have announced their retirements to date. Watch for the women’s four to continue to be a powerful boat, with its trademark calm rhythm (set by Rebecca Shorten) and steady race plan. The British have experimented with pair combinations but have had stronger results by prioritizing the eight – they will likely continue racing this event with their incredible depth of decorated athletes.
Romania habitually skips the first two World Rowing Cups but absolutely dominates at the European Rowing Championships – they won every eight and pair gold in the past cycle, along with a medal of each colour in the four. The Paris women’s eight was World Rowing’s 2024 crew of the year, and it would be a treat to watch them continue to triumph by huge margins (while simultaneously scooping up hardware in their small boats). Roxana Anghel only started racing a pair internationally in 2023 prior to her Paris silver medal (with Ioana Vrinceanu). With some additional time, these women may become the biggest rivals for the Dutch pair. In fact, they were the last pair to pull off an upset at the 2023 European Rowing Championships.
Australia’s only medal in Paris came from Annabelle McIntyre and Jessica Morrison with bronze in the pair. They took the silver medal back at the 2023 World Rowing Championships between the Dutch and the Romanians, so a rematch of these three crews would make for excellent viewing.
The Lithuanian combination of Kralikaite/Adomaviciute had minimal time together, with their only two races being at the 2023 World Rowing Championships (placing tenth) and then achieving fifth place in Paris. Their technique looked incredibly smooth and their race strategies were confident – with more time together, this could absolutely be a crew that could challenge for a podium placing.
The Paralympic podium of the British, the USA, and then France was the same from Tokyo to Paris, but the margins were cut in half, and a photo finish with Germany decided the bronze medal. The increasing competitiveness of para-rowing and the different strategies for arranging a mixed crew make it one of the most exciting events to watch in 2025.
New Zealand won bronze in the women’s four in Paris. Kerri Williams has announced her retirement, but with three returning medallists (including her sister Jackie Gowler, now a two-time Olympic medallist), this crew is in good hands to continue being a podium contender.
The Canadian scene has been relatively quiet apart from Cailiegh Filmer announcing her journey towards a fourth Olympic Games after becoming a Paris Olympic silver medallist in the women’s eight. She is a Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist and a world champion in the women’s pair so will be a threat in any boat, big or small.
Team USA will have been disappointed by coming home empty-handed from Paris, but the pair and four (which included five Olympic debutants between them) performed above expectations and will hopefully be able to fight for podium places in the upcoming quadrennial. Keep an eye on Czajkowski, Kallfellz, and Knifton, who look to be rising stars of the program.
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