Women’s Eight Wins Silver, Women’s Double Wins Bronze at 2023 World Rowing Championships

The women's eight won the silver medal and the women's double sculls won the bronze medal on Sunday, highlighting the final day of competition at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. By finishing in the top five, the U.S. women's eight also qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

In total, the U.S. won seven medals and qualified 10 boats for Paris (eight Olympic and two Paralympic) over the eight-day regatta. The U.S. finished fourth in total medals. In addition to today's medals, the U.S. won silver in the PR3 mixed double sculls, PR3 mixed four with coxswain, lightweight women's double sculls, and men's four, as well as bronze in the lightweight women's single sculls.

The women's eight of coxswain Cristina Castagna (Cincinnati, Ohio/University of Washington), Charlotte Buck (Nyack, N.Y./Columbia University/USRowing Training Center-Princeton), Mary Mazzio-Manson (Wellesley, Mass./Yale University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Brooke Mooney (Keene Valley, N.Y./University of Washington/USRowing Training Center-Princeton), Alina Hagstrom (Seattle, Wash./Oregon State University/USRowing Training Center-Princeton), Regina Salmons (Methuen, Mass./University of Pennsylvania/USRowing Training Center-Princeton), Jessica Thoennes (Highlands Ranch, Colo./University of Washington/USRowing Training Center-Princeton), Margaret Hedeman (Concord, Mass./Yale University), and Emily Froehlich (Fishers, Ind./University of Texas/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) passed Australia in the final few strokes to claim the silver medal behind Romania, earning one of the five qualification spots for Paris.

"It means so much," Buck said. "I've been in the eight the last two years and it's been so tough coming in fourth. We worked really, really hard to get out of that position. It's amazing. This is my first time on the podium at any level for worlds, so it's always special to do it with these nine women."

Australia took the race out hard to grab the early lead ahead of Romania in the first 500 meters. The U.S. got off the line in sixth position and still sat in sixth as the crews hit the 1,000-meter mark. Romania overtook Australia in the third 500, with the U.S. moving up to fourth as the crews headed into the final quarter of the race. Romania continued to power away from Australia as the American boat closed the gap on the Aussies. At the line, the U.S. had pulled its bowball ahead to claim the silver medal. Romania won the race in a 6:01.28, with the U.S. finishing second in a 6:03.73. Australia took the bronze in a 6:04.17. The U.S. reached the podium for the first time since 2019.

"It was just a matter of executing our plan every stage of the race," Castagna said. "When you go into the second 500 being in last place and you know what the crew is capable of, you just trust that if you execute each piece the way it needs to be executed, then you'll end up the way that it should finish. I think the last 1,500 (meters) was a great testament to our trust in one another, and I'm extremely proud of these girls, as well as an extremely competitive field. I couldn't be more excited right now."

In the women's double sculls, Sophia Vitas (Franklin, Wis./University of Wisconsin/Texas Rowing Center) and Kristi Wagner (Weston, Mass./Yale University/ARION) used the fastest back half of the race to earn the bronze medal, finishing just behind second-place Lithuania. The American boat got off the line in sixth position and was still in fifth at the midway point. Romania's Simona Radis and Ancuta Bodnar and Lithuania's Dovile Rimkute and Donata Karaliene got out in front in the first quarter of the race, with France leading the trailing four crews. Romania began to pull away in the second 500 meters, with Lithuania extending its advantage for second. The U.S. began eating into New Zealand's hold on the bronze-medal position in the third 500, moving past the Kiwis as the crews came into the final quarter of the race. Vitas and Wagner made a big charge on Lithuania for the silver medal but came up 0.11 seconds short. Romania won gold in a 6:46.94, with Lithuania holding on for silver in a 6:50.34. The U.S. won bronze in a 6:50.45, reaching the medal stand for the first time since 2018.

"It feels good," Vitas said. "It feels like we are reaping some of the rewards of putting so much work into it. The more time we have together in the boat, the more trust we are building. That's starting to pay off a little bit."

"You always want to get up here," Wagner said. "I feel like it is steps in the right direction for next year."

Women's single sculler Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif./University of California, Berkeley/Texas Rowing Center) just missed the podium, finishing fourth in the final. The Netherlands' Karolien Florijn took control of the race off the start, with Australia's Tara Rigney in second and New Zealand's Emma Twigg in third. Kohler dopped to sixth off the start in a tight race with the Bulgarian and Lithuanian scullers for fourth, less than a length down on a medal position. Kohler moved into fourth place in the second 500 meters, sitting about three-quarters of a length down on Rigney in third. But Rigney was able to extend her advantage during the third 500 meters, gaining open water on Kohler by the 1,500-meter mark. Florijn moved away from Twigg to win the gold medal for the second year in a row. The Dutch sculler finished with a time of 7:14.35. Twigg won her second consecutive silver medal, finishing in a 7:19.43, while Rigney completed the repeat from last year, winning consecutive bronze medals in a 7:21.07. Kohler held off Bulgaria's Desislava Angelova to finish fourth in a 7:23.98.

The U.S. men's eight of coxswain Jimmy Catalano (Greenwich Conn./University of Wisconsin), Pieter Quinton (Portland, Ore./Harvard University/California Rowing Club), Ezra Carlson (Eureka, Calif./University of Washington/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Alexander Hedge (Morristown, N.J./Columbia University/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Chris Carlson (Bedford, N.H./University of Washington/California Rowing Club), Peter Chatain (Winnetka, Ill./Stanford University), Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn./Dartmouth College/California Rowing Club), Clark Dean (Sarasota, Fla./Harvard University), and Henry Hollingsworth (Dover, Mass./Brown University/California Rowing Club) finished sixth in the final, missing a qualification spot for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Great Britain and Australia traded leads with each other for the first half of the race before the British crew began to pull away. Germany sat in third through the 1,000-meter mark, but The Netherlands moved into bronze-medal position in the third 500 meters.

With five qualification spots for Paris on the line, the U.S. boat sat in sixth position at the 1,000-meter mark before it began to jockey for fifth position with Romania during the third 500. Meanwhile, Germany began to fall back. In the final sprint, Romania pulled ahead of Germany, which held off the U.S. for the final qualification spot. Great Britain held off a late charge by The Netherlands to win gold in a 5:24.20. The Dutch boat finished second in a 5:25.23, with Australia holding on for bronze in a 5:26.65. The Americans finished with a time of 5:29.18. The U.S. will have to race at next year's Final Olympic Qualification Regatta for a chance to qualify for Paris.

In the men's double sculls, Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./University of Washington/California Rowing Club) and Sorin Koszyk (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Cornell University/California Rowing Club) dominated the C final to finish 13th overall. Davison and Koszyk jumped to the lead in the opening 500 meters and never looked back. The crew had built nearly a six-second lead at the halfway point before pushing that out to more than eight seconds with 500 meters to go. The Americans crossed the line with several lengths of open water back to Serbia in second place. Davison and Koszyk clocked a 6:12.55, with Serbia finishing in a 6:20.37.

PR1 men's single sculler Andrew Mangan (Buffalo, N.Y./Stanford University/West Side Rowing Club) finished second in the C final for a 14th-place finish overall. Tunisia's Maher Rahmani took the early lead ahead of Kazakhstan's Temirkhan Daiyrbek, with Mangan more than 10 seconds back in third. Mangan cut his deficit to six seconds at the halfway mark and had pulled within three seconds of Daiyrbek, who had moved into the lead, with 500 meters to go. Mangan continued to press Daiyrbek over the final 500 meters but was unable to get through. Daiyrbek won the race in a 9:56.64, with Mangan finishing in a 9:58.45.

Men's single sculler Eliot Putnam (Littleton, Mass./Cornell University/New York Athletic Club) won the D final by more than a length for a 19th-place finish overall. Spain's Gonzalo Garcia Ferrero took the early lead in the first 500 meters over Uruguay's Bruno Cetraro Berriolo and Putnam before the U.S. sculler pulled into first at the halfway mark. Putnam rowed away from the field in the third quarter of the race, finishing with a time of 6:53.53. Uruguay took second in a 6:57.23, with Spain finishing third.

In total, the U.S. had 22 boats competing in Belgrade. Click here for USRowing's daily coverage of the 2023 World Rowing Championships. Click here for USRowing's photo galleries. Click here for complete results on worldrowing.com. Follow along with the U.S. National Team at the 2023 World Rowing Championships by using the hashtags #WorldRowingChamps and #WRCHBelgrade.

USRowing would like to thank Filippi Lido, the Official Boat Supplier for the U.S. Senior, Under 23, and Para Rowing National Teams. Under the agreement, Filippi is providing USRowing a fleet of boats for international competitions including the World Rowing Cup regattas, World Rowing Under 23 Championships, World Rowing Championships, Olympic Games, and Paralympic Games, as well as a domestic training fleet for the USRowing Training Centers.