Cillian Mullen finishes 8th at the U23 World Rowing Championship
Cillian Mullen represented the United States in the women's single (BW1x) at the 2026 U23 World Rowing Championships, held July 23–26 in Duisburg, Germany. The regatta marked a historic performance for the U.S. team, which recorded its best-ever finish in Olympic boat classes at the U23 World Championships with four gold medals, one silver, and one bronze.
Cillian capped off an outstanding regatta by finishing 8th overall, his best career finish at a World Championship and the best result for the United States in the BW1x since another 8th-place finish in 2022.
Cillian opened the regatta with an aggressive race in the heats. Battling choppy water and a strong headwind, he worked his way past Australia to move into third place. A decisive move through the third 500 meters set him up for a strong sprint to the line, finishing in 8:23 and earning a spot in Saturday's semifinal.
The semifinal proved to be just as exciting. After sitting sixth off the start, Cillian steadily worked through the field and produced another impressive closing sprint, overtaking the Greek sculler to finish fourth in 7:39.43. He missed advancing to the A Final by less than one second.
With confidence from his semifinal performance, Cillian entered the B Final trusting all of the hard work he put in. He settled into third early before engaging in a close battle with Australia's Sarah Bourke throughout the middle of the race. A powerful sprint carried him past Bourke in the closing meters, and he continued to push the Greek sculler all the way to the finish. Cillian crossed the line in 7:38.37, setting a new personal best and placing second in the B Final to finish 8th in the world.
"Ultimately I set a lofty goal for myself of making the A Final. While it was unfortunate that I didn't make it, I was proud to finish 8th, race against such a strong field, and set a new personal best in the final."
Away from the racing, one of Cillian's favorite parts of the trip was getting to know all of the other athletes. He was also reunited with former GRP U23 athlete Dan Malecki, who competed in the men's double.
Congratulations to Cillian on an outstanding performance representing both the United States and the Green Racing Project on the world stage. Next up, Cillian will reunite with the rest of the GRP U23 and senior squads to compete at Canadian Henley before joining the Green Racing Project full-time this fall.
