Great Britain opened the 2026 World Rowing Cup I in Seville with two golds. The men's four sprinted past France, finishing 5.22 seconds clear, while the Netherlands took bronze. In the women's single sculls, Lauren Henry edged Lithuania’s Viktorija Senkute by 0.14 seconds after a photo finish, reversing last year’s narrow loss to Ireland’s Fiona Murtagh.

Henry admitted her first 500 metres felt sluggish, but trusted the second half, citing confidence in her training and coach. The British women's quadruple sculls claimed silver, beaten by Germany by just 0.43 seconds. In the men's eight, GB took silver as reigning world champions the Netherlands won comfortably, reinforcing their dominance.

Australia topped the women's eight, leaving Great Britain with bronze as the Dutch secured silver. The haul of two golds, two silvers and a bronze gives GB an early points lead in the Cup series and sets a strong platform for the upcoming European championships.

The results underline Great Britain’s depth across boat classes, confirming the effectiveness of the national training programme introduced after the 2024 Olympics. With the World Rowing Cup I serving as the season’s benchmark, British crews will aim to translate this momentum into medal‑rich performances at the World Championships later this year.