"VAN" (Sports Desk - 31.05.2026) :: Hong Kong, China, leads the standings at the 2026 World Rowing Cup I in Seville after the first A-finals, with two gold and one silver medal.
Hong Kong crews won both lightweight men’s and women’s double sculls, and Chiu Hin Chun took silver in the lightweight men’s single sculls.
Portugal and Mexico both claimed one gold medal. In the lightweight men’s single sculls, 18-year-old Joao Veloso rowed through from the back of the pack to claim a win in his debut World Rowing Cup, denying Chiu. Mikita Karneyeu (AIN) was third.
In contrast, experience paid off for 31-year-old Kenia Lechuga (MEX), who won her third World Rowing Cup after taking both victories last season. In her pink boat, hair tie and rowing suit, Lechuga said she felt stronger than ever. Meanwhile silver medallist Isobel Clements (IRL) and bronze medallist Femke van de Vliet (NED) both won their first-ever World Rowing Cup medals.
The earlier semifinals set the stage for a thrilling final day of racing on Sunday, with several races coming down to the sprint and only a few seconds splitting the six finalists. Three crews from hosts Spain will race for medals, but the Netherlands and Romania have the most medal chances, each with eight boats in the 13 events taking place.
Unlike on Friday, the favourites in most events progressed through to the finals, although several world and Olympic medallists did miss out – including Paris 2024 Olympic Games bronze medallist Becky Wilde (GBR) in the women’s double sculls, and world silver medallists Matthew Haywood and Rory Harris (also GBR) in the men’s quadruple sculls.
Fintan McCarthy (IRL), the Paris 2024 lightweight men’s double sculls champion and a world bronze medallist in the men’s double sculls, narrowly missed out on the men’s single sculls final. Belgium’s Tristan Vandenbussche reached his first World Rowing Cup A-final by outsprinting McCarthy in their semifinal.
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