WRC: Croatian Men's Four advances to the semifinals Šain through to the quarterfinals

Two Croatian boats have advanced to the next stage of their respective competitions at the 2025 World Rowing Championships underway in Shanghai China. Both boats are scheduled to race next on Wednesday.

The Croatian Men's Four consisting of brothers Patrik and Anton Lončarić and brothers Martin and Valent Sinković won their qualifying group at the World Rowing Championships in Shanghai on Monday to advance to the semifinals. The current European runners-up, the Lončarić and Sinković brothers won their heat with a time of 5:59:89 minutes, beating second-place France by 25 hundredths of a second, while Italy crossed the finish line in third place with a time of 6:00:91. Ukraine was fourth with a time of 6:04.26.

"It was difficult, but that's always the case at the opening of the competition. We know we can row much better, but the victory is here and we're moving on," said Valent Sinković after the race.

"We can certainly do better, and we will have to if we want to be in the fight for a medal. We continue with training and the semi-finals await us on Wednesday," added younger brother Martin.

The semi-final is scheduled for September 24th, starting at 5:28 a.m. Croatian time. The Croatian team will be rowing against crews from Ukraine, the USA, Great Britain, Australia and the Netherlands. The top three crews from the semi-finals will advance to the finals, which are scheduled for Friday.

Meanwhile, Croatia's David Šain has advanced to the quarterfinals in the Men's Single Sculls after finishing fifth in his qualifying group with a time of 6:53:91 minutes. Šain had the 18th fastest time of the 30 rowers vying for one of 24 spots leading to the quarterfinals. The 37 year-old Šain, who was a member of the Men's Quadruple Sculls that won the silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

The quarterfinal races are scheduled for Wednesday at 4:40 a.m., with Šain rowing against reigning European champion Jevgeni Zalati, Poland's Cezary Litko, Estonian Mihai Kuštejn, Romanian Mihai Chiruta, and New Zealander Logan Ullrich.

Source: HRT