Ireland finish World Rowing Championships with two silver medals

Ireland brought the 2026 World Rowing Championships to a close at the Bosbaan in Amsterdam with two silver medals on the final day of racing. Konan Pazzaia and Margaret Cremen finished second in the mixed double sculls behind the Netherlands.

Belfast’s Konan Pazzaia partnered Margaret Cremen in the mixed double sculls, while Cremen earlier secured a gold alongside Zoe Hyde in the women’s double sculls on Friday. Reigning world champion Fiona Murtagh was beaten to gold by Great Britain’s Lauren Henry in the women’s single sculls, reversing last year’s result. Olympic champion Karolien Florijn of the Netherlands took third in the single sculls final.

After coming third in the semi-finals of the double sculls earlier on Sunday, Cremen and Pazzaia produced the performance that earned them the silver medal in the mixed double sculls final. The pair finished behind the Dutch crew in that race.

Pazzaia, who is from Switzerland and has a Belfast-born mother, progressed through Club de l'Aviron Nyon before joining the Irish High Performance pathway while studying Biological Sciences at Queen's University Belfast. He won Under-23 world bronze in the double sculls in 2022 and the U23 world title in the same event the following year. In 2025 he took European Championship bronze in the men's double with Fintan McCarthy and also won a World Cup bronze in that boat.

Earlier in the championships Pazzaia did not hide his disappointment with the performance of the men’s quad sculls, who were eliminated in the heats and were nine second slower than every other boat. Despite that earlier setback, he leaves Amsterdam with a world silver as the Irish crew finished second behind the Dutch crew.

The silver for Hannah Scott and Finnola Stratton in the women’s quad sculls helped Great Britain to fifth place in the medal table. Great Britain finished with two golds, four silvers and two bronzes.

The silvers on the final day left Ireland seventh in the medal table with a gold and two silvers, while the Netherlands topped the standings on home water with four golds, three silvers and a bronze medal.