2026 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals: Boat-by-Boat Preview

After winning two gold medals and one silver at last year’s World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, the United States will bring 18 athletes to compete in 10 events at the 2026 championships, October 18-21 in Qingdao, China. The roster brings together returning world champions, experienced national team athletes, and newcomers across four senior, five U19, and one inclusion event.

Qingdao’s Golden Beach will host the competition as beach sprint rowing continues toward its Olympic debut at the LA28 Games. 222 crews representing 52 nations will compete in this year’s championships.

Open Women’s Solo (CW1x)

Christine Cavallo (Windermere, Fla.) returns after reaching the quarterfinals in Antalya last year. With international experience spanning Junior, U23, Senior, and Beach Sprint competition, Cavallo brings an extensive racing background to Qingdao. She won bronze in the solo in the 2023 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, and bronze in the coxed quadruple sculls at the 2021 Finals. 

Open Men’s Solo (CM1x)

Chris Bak (Cincinnati, Ohio) will compete in two events in Qingdao, defending his men’s solo title and stroking the U.S. mixed coxed quadruple sculls. Bak won gold in the solo in 2022, 2024, and 2025, and in the mixed coxed quadruple sculls in 2023. He enters this year’s competition seeking a third consecutive men’s solo title and his fourth overall.

Bak enters this competition as the most decorated beach sprint rower in history, with six medals, including four golds. 

Open Mixed Double Sculls (CMix2x)

Kory Rogers (The Woodlands, Texas) and Sera Busse (Oakland, Calif.) bring world championship medal experience to this year’s mixed double, with Rogers in bow and Busse at stroke. Rogers won mixed coxed quadruple sculls gold in 2023 and 2025, while Busse earned mixed double silver with Bak last year.

Open Mixed Coxed Quadruple Sculls (CMix4x)

The United States return as reigning world champions with Malachi Anderson (Hamilton, Ohio), Audrianna Boersen (Whitemarsh, Pa.), Charlotte Wiley (Guilford, Conn.), Chris Bak, and coxswain Coral Kasden (West Olive, Mich.). Anderson, Boersen, and Kasden return from the 2025 gold-medal crew, while Wiley makes her first national team appearance.

Anderson holds three U19 World Beach Sprint silver medals, while Boersen finished eighth in the lightweight single sculls at the 2024 World Rowing Championships. Bak and Kasden were members of the U.S. crew that won the event in 2023. The Americans will look to build on that success with a new combination in Qingdao.

Inclusion Mixed Double Sculls (INMix2x)

Justin Stevens (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Annabelle Miller (Kansas City, Mo.) will race the inclusion mixed double, with Stevens in bow and Miller at stroke. Both bring classic rowing national team experience: Stevens finished sixth in the lightweight pair at the 2022 World Rowing Championships, while Miller finished fourth in the PR3 mixed four with coxswain at the 2025 championships.

U19 Men’s Solo (CJM1x)

Will Johns (Tulsa, Okla.) is a first-time national team member and will race the U19 men’s solo for the United States in Qingdao.

Spain’s Ignacio Ramon-Borja won last year’s title, ahead of Germany’s Felix Krones in the final. Italy’s Lucio Fugazzotto earned bronze.

U19 Women’s Solo (CJW1x)

Allison Grove (Hamilton, Ohio) will represent the U.S. after earning her first national team selection this summer. Racing for Next Level Rowing, Grove won the final at the Beach Sprint National Team Trials in New Bedford, Massachusetts, to earn her spot.

U19 Men’s Double Sculls (CJM2x)

First-time national team member Tim Mayer and Ronan Maher (Sioux Falls, S.D.) will team up, with Mayer in bow and Maher at stroke. Maher returns after representing the U.S. at the 2024 and 2025 Beach Sprint Finals. The pair won this year’s national team trials final by just under six seconds.

Mayer also earned bronze in the men’s double at the 2026 USRowing Youth Beach Sprint National Championships with Daniel Lent. 

U19 Women’s Double Sculls (CJW2x)

First time national team members Ella McFadden (Camden, N.C.) and Emma Mayer will race together, with McFadden in bow and Mayer at stroke. The Elizabeth City Rowing Club duo earned silver at this year’s Youth Beach Sprint National Championships before winning the national team trials final.

U19 Mixed Double Sculls (CJMix2x)

Leland Angel (Hamilton, Ohio) returns in a new boat class, partnering with Olympia Catalino in the U19 mixed double. Angel will bow, with Catalino at stroke. Angel raced the U19 men’s double at last year’s Beach Sprint Finals and earned bronze at the 2025 Youth Beach Sprint National Championships.

Catalino participated in USRowing’s Beach Sprint Pathways Development program and reached the women’s solo final at this summer’s national team trials. 

Racing begins on Sunday, Oct. 18, and continues through Wednesday, Oct. 21. 

Schedule, results, and a link to World Rowing’s livestream on YouTube can be found here.