Four GRP Rowers at the 2026 World Rowing Championships

GRPer Jacob Plihal, in seat 2 - second from right.

GRP Rowers Jacob Plihal, Kevin Harvell, Holly Drapp, and Jesse Ryno are racing at the 2026 World Rowing Championships, held August 24–30 at the Bosbaan in Amsterdam, Netherlands. More than 850 athletes from 64 nations will be racing across 23 boat classes over the week. Heats and early rounds have carried the regatta through the first half of the week, with medal finals running Thursday, August 27 through Sunday, August 30.

Jacob Plihal - M4x

Jacob is racing the men's quadruple sculls (M4x) for the United States, teaming up with James Wright, Cedar Cunningham, and Ben Davison in a new combination for 2026. Jacob and Cedar are back from last year's quad, which finished fourth at the 2025 World Championships in Shanghai. Ben, a two-time Olympian who took 2025 off, trained at Craftsbury as a GRP athlete before moving on to California Rowing Club. He's back on the senior team after finishing fourth in the M2x at the Paris Olympics and fourth in the M8+ at the Tokyo Olympics. GRPer Plihal comes in off a strong summer on the World Cup circuit: a silver medal in the single at World Cup II in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where he lost the final by a quarter-second to teammate Sam Melvin, and a bronze in the M2x with Cedar at World Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland, where he also picked up a mixed-double bronze with Emily Kallfelz. In Amsterdam, Jacob and the boat opened the regatta with a win in men's quad Heat 3, crossing in 6:23.20 to move the boat into the next round. Read more about Jacob's World Cup summer.

Kevin Harvell - M1x (Puerto Rico)

Kevin is racing the men's single for Puerto Rico, one of the deepest fields in the regatta. He finished fifth in his heat in 7:57.48 and will race the repechage later this week for another shot at the semifinals.

Holly Drapp - W8+ alternate

Holly made the U.S. team as an alternate for the women's eight. In her senior national team debut at the 2025 World Championships in Shanghai, Holly and partner Jess Thoennes won bronze in the women's pair (W2-), storming back from fifth at the 500-meter mark and fourth at 1,000 to cross just 0.62 seconds off silver. Thoennes is now one of the eight rowers Holly is on call to sub in for in Amsterdam.

Jesse Ryno - alternate

Jesse rounds out the GRP contingent as a team alternate after a summer of training at Princeton.

Racing streams live at worldrowing.com, with results, schedule, and athlete quotes posted throughout the week. Follow along as medal finals wrap up the regatta this weekend