World Rowing Cup: Great Britain win title after Lauren Henry wins another gold

Lauren Henry claimed another gold to help Great Britain clinch the World Rowing Cup title in Lucerne on Sunday.

The 23-year-old won the women’s single sculls final in Varese two weeks ago and followed that up in Switzerland as GB won two golds and a bronze.

The Olympic quadruple sculls champion recovered from a sluggish start to win by a tight margin over Ireland’s Fiona Murtagh in second.

Denmark’s Frida Sanggaard Nielsen was right behind in third in a repeat of the European Championships podium a month ago.

“It’s so special for us to win the World Cup,” said Henry. “I was told it was quite close earlier, so I’m really pleased that I managed to get the points we needed to win the trophy.”

GB’s other gold came in the men’s quadruple sculls final, with the team moving through from fourth to second, before catching Poland in the closing stages, with the USA third.

“We were down for most of the race, but we just had to trust that the Poles had put in the work and were going to be tired and we could really shift through,” said GB’s Matthew Haywood.

Eleanor Brinkhoff and Megan Slabbert added a bronze in the women’s pair final behind the Czech Republic, while Romania’s European champions Maria Magdalena Rusu and Simona Radis raced clear for the win.

GB did not top the medal table on Sunday or in Varese two weeks ago, but the five golds they won across the two events was enough to secure this year’s overall World Rowing Cup title.

This year’s World Championships take place in Shanghai from 21-28 September.

“[They] are still quite a long way away, so a lot can change, but I’m going to take what I’ve learned in this racing block and put in some more work to find where I can improve,” Henry added.