Australian rowers have opened their medal account at the 2026 world championships, which has been affected by wild weather in Amsterdam.
The men’s pair of Alex Hill and Angus Dawson claimed silver while Ella Marshall and Sam Stunell rowed to a bronze medal in the PR3 mixed double sculls.
The crews won their medals late on day five of the regatta, with competition on hold for two hours while the Bosbaan course was lashed by heavy rain and thunder.
In other racing on Friday (local time), Erik Horrie won his semi-final in the PR1 men's single sculls while Tara Rigney advanced through the quarter-final round of the women's single sculls.
Gunning for his fourth Olympics, Hill, who won gold in the men's four in Tokyo and silver in Rio, and Dawson were edged by New Zealand in the final.
Defending their title, the Kiwi crew of Olliver Welch and Ben Taylor crossed the line in six minutes 16.62, with the Australians next in 6:18.50, while Italy won bronze.
The Australians, who won World Cup III Lucerne in June where New Zealand did not compete, were comfortable with silver.
"We came with the idea to win, so it's always disappointing when you fall short, but same time, we're very happy with how we stepped through the regatta," said Dawson, a 2020 and 2024 Olympian in the eight.
"And for the first year together (as a crew), a silver is something we can be proud of.”
The duo are targeting the event at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“That's the plan. We put ourselves through it for one year, so another couple more isn’t too long," said 25-year-old Dawson.
"We both come out of bigger boats - it's a slower race. a lot can happen … getting half a per cent better through each part of the race will hopefully put us in a good position.”
Hill, 33, said the delay in racing due to the storm did not put them off their race.
“It was the same for everyone,” he said.
“We were 10 minutes from getting on the water, but then we had to go back, relax as much as possible and see what they (officials) say. There was a moment there, where it looked like we were going to be out there again tomorrow, but the storm went away, and off we went.”
