GRP Row: 2025 World Championships Recap
GRP Rowing concludes successful racing at the World Championships in Shanghai China.
GRPer Holly Drapp and pair partner Jess Thonnes fought hard during their final to clinch a spot on the podium and take home a bronze medal. The U.S. pair was in fifth place after the first 500 meters. In the third 500 of the race, the U.S. crew took a huge move and trailed second place France by about 3 seconds. They continued to inch closer to the French crew in the last 500 and finished just 0.62 seconds behind the French. When asked about their third 500 move, Holly stated “We didn’t even have to say anything. We both just knew that that’s where we had to trust each other, trust our fitness, and just never be afraid to give it a little more.”
The men’s quad with GRP athlete, Jacob Plihal, had outstanding performances throughout the regatta delivering a fourth-place finish and the best result for the U.S. at a championships since 1998. The crew had a fantastic start and fought back and forth in tight racing with Great Britain and Poland during the first half of the race, while Italy had an early lead. Great Britain and Poland began to break away in the second half and the U.S. crew finished in fourth after a great sprint in the final meters.
Plihal also raced in the mixed double in its first appearance at this years World Championships. The double took control of the race early and led through the finish winning the B final in 6:46.15 and finishing seventh in the world.
Anna Jensen made her debut at senior World Championships in the women’s eight. The U.S. crew built on their race in the heats to lay down a fierce race in the A final. The crew from the Netherlands jumped out to an early lead while the U.S. battled down the course with the rest of the field. The Germans and the British surged ahead. The U.S. continued to fight the whole way down the course and finished in fifth with a time of 6:16.09.
The women’s double with GRPer Grace Joyce and partner Isa Darvin showed a lot of fight in both their heats and final. In the heats, the U.S. finished fifth in a photo finish between places third through fifth with just 0.55 seconds separating all three crews. In the B final, the double was in fourth after the first 500 meters and made a huge push on the British double and began a back and forth with the Irish. Battling all the way down the course, the U.S. finished just a 0.73 seconds behind the Irish crew with a time of 7:00.93 to claim 8th overall, the highest ever finish at a World Championships for Joyce.
“We just stuck to our race plan and trusted in our fitness. Coming off the heats finishing on the wrong side of where we wanted to end up for that qualifying position, we just came together to really solidify our plan, and our goal was to execute a better sprint. I think we definitely pulled that off through the second thousand, so yeah, pretty happy with that.” - Joyce
Sera Busse and Sophie Calabrese had a great showing at their first senior World Championships in the women’s quad. The U.S. crew battled stroke for stroke with the leading crews in the first half of the race. The leading boats pulled away in the middle of the race but the U.S. crew continued to row well and broke away from the fifth and sixth place crews finishing in 6:45.19 to secure a 10th place finish.
