RMB National Rowing Squad Opens International Season with Encouraging Results in Lucerne and at Henley Royal Regatta
First outings of the season under new national coach Andrew Grant point the way to the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam this September
The RMB National Squad kicked off its 2026 international season with solid performances at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland, followed by the Henley Royal Regatta in England, marking the crews' first international racing of the year as they build toward the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam this September.
Four athletes flew the South African flag across the two regattas: Courtney Westley and Katherine Williams in the women's pair, Chris Baxter in the men's single sculls, and Paige Badenhorst in the women's single sculls.
Lucerne: World Rowing Cup III
Racing against some of the world's top crews on the Rotsee from 26 to 28 June, the South African squad delivered a strong account of themselves:
- Courtney Westley and Katherine Williams (women's pair) finished 8th overall.
- Paige Badenhorst (women's single sculls) finished 9th overall.
- Chris Baxter (men's single sculls) finished 15th overall.
Henley Royal Regatta
The squad then travelled to England for the Henley Royal Regatta, widely regarded as the UK's most prestigious regatta and a fixture that attracts many of the world's top international crews to the banks of the Thames every year.
Both South African scullers made it through to the semi-finals. Paige Badenhorst reached the semi-final of the Princess Royal Challenge Cup, in what proved to be the race of the regatta — a neck-and-neck battle with Austria's Magdalena Lobnig that was decided by just half a length at the finish. Lobnig, an Olympic bronze medallist and former European champion in the single sculls who has since become a world champion in coastal and beach sprint rowing, went on to contest the final, where she lost to Great Britain's Lauren Henry.
Chris Baxter reached the semi-final of the Diamond Challenge Sculls, where he was beaten by Portugal's Diogo Gonçalves, a bronze medallist at the 2025 World Rowing Under-23 Championships. Gonçalves went on to reach Sunday's final, where he faced four-time champion Olli Zeidler of Germany.
Courtney Westley and Katherine Williams were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Hambleden Pairs Challenge Cup by Italy's Laura Meriano and Alice Codato, fourth-placed finishers at the 2025 World Rowing Championships and the eventual winners of their event.
A New Chapter Under Andrew Grant
These results mark the first international assignment for the RMB National Squad under new coach Andrew Grant, and they point to the positive influence he is already having on the programme. Reaching the semi-finals of the world's most prestigious regatta, and pushing eventual finalists and champions across both events, reflects a squad building real momentum heading into the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam this September and onwards to LA 2028.
Looking Ahead
With Lucerne and Henley now behind them, the RMB National Rowing Squad turns its focus to final preparations for the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam this September, where the squad will look to build on the momentum gained from this encouraging start to the season.
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