Mercantile had the following members in the Australian teams for this combined World Championship conducted at Varese Italy.

Under 23 team

• Paige Barr - women's coxless four - Bronze medal
• Fergus Hamilton - men's eight - Bronze medal
• Emmie Frederico - women's coxed four - Gold medal

Under 19 team

• Victoria Trentin – junior development member from Melbourne Girls College - Ninth in women's eight
• Jessica Rawolle – junior development member from Loreto Toorak - Ninth in women's eight
• Billy Osborne - junior development member from Gippsland Grammar - 13th in men's quad
• Lindsay Hamilton – junior development member from Gippsland Grammar - 13th in men's quad
• Tom Foley – junior development member from St Patricks - Seventh in men's eight

Despite many teams competing being subject to COVID withdrawals and COVID training disruptions, the regatta was a great success. Australian Nick Hunter was the President of the Jury and Club member Bill Webster was a late addition to the Jury.

The following extracts are taken from the Rowing Australia reports.

Women's under 23 coxed four

Victorious women's under 23 coxed four - Emmie second from right

The first A Final representation for Australia at these Championships was in the Under 23 Women’s Coxed Four, with race favourites Isabella Scammell, Samantha Morton, Emma Wilson, Emmie Frederico and coxswain Nicholas Dunlop. The crew set a new Championship record in their Heat earlier in the competition and again showed a composed performance, leading from start to finish to take the gold medal and become World Champions in another record time of 6:44.15. 

 After receiving their medals, the crew shared: “The last two years have been about overcoming challenges and mistakes. The race may have looked perfect but getting here was not a perfect journey. We fought some big battles to get here and we never gave up. Thank you to all our family and friends who helped get us here.” 

....Fernandez continued: “It was a great day for our U23 Women’s Coxed Four who are the new World Champions. It was a commanding performance which saw them once again lower their own world best mark set in the heats. It is also important to acknowledge Zara Collisson who was originally part of this crew but unfortunately had to withdraw due to injury. I want to congratulate both the crew and the coach on their success.”  

Men's under 23 eight

Podium image of the under 23 m3n's eight - Fergus back row second from the right

The U23 Men’s Eight of Jamie Arnold, Marcus Emmett, Joshua Hill, Angus Dawson, Alexander McClean, Patrick Long, Darcy McCluskey, Fergus Hamilton and cox Harry Keenan only had one instruction from their coach John Bowes – “Pound the rock (Go for the win).”   

 The crew’s stroke – Fergus Hamilton – has been managing injury all week but refused to be left out. Our boys led for the first 400 metres of the race, but once Great Britain took the lead after 600 metres, they and the USA battled it out for the silver medal. Australia gave it everything and finished with the bronze.   

 Post-race, coach John Bowes said, “The boys showed enormous courage to fight all the way to the finish line and win a bronze medal. I could not have been more proud of them.” 

Women's under 23 coxless four

Podium image of the women's four - Paige Barr right hand side

Our U23 Women’s Coxless Four went through a seat change before their final, placing Paige Barr in the stroke seat. Together with Jacqueline Swick, Genevieve Hart and Eliza Gaffney, Barr ensured the quartet got off to a good start and really took the race to their American and British rivals. They finished in third place, winning the bronze medal. 

 After the final, the girls shared, “It was a fearless race and it is safe to say we threw everything we had out there. We really came together this week and managed to adapt to the choppy conditions. Based on the adjustments, we managed to put in a good second 1000 metres and hold off the Romanians (who beat us in the Rep).   

 The girls further commented, “This week has been an incredible experience filled with so many learnings that we will all take back with us to the (Senior) World Championships trials and future races.” 

Women's under 19 eight

Women's under 19 eight

The Under 19 Women’s Eight of Charlotte Ball, Lucy Richardson, Victoria Trentin, Olive Pascoe, Chloe Amling, Tiffany Crosthwaite, Katie Jackson, Ellie McClure and coxswain Jessica Rawolle were looking for a similar finish to their male crew counterparts. They showed some good early boat speed but could not match their competitors in the final 500 metres. They finished the race in third position (ninth place ranking). 

Men's under 19 eight

Men's under 19 eight in their heat

Our Men’s Under 19 Eight of James Hart, James Houghton, Matthew Porter, Thomas Foley, Nicholas Bryant, Lachlan Idle, Magnus Randall, Winston Hooper and coxswain Joshua Feferkranz finished the regatta on a positive note by winning the B Final (seventh place ranking). They led from start to finish and held off a fast-finishing Romanian crew. 

Men's under 19 quad scull

Men's under 19 quad scull

Australia’s Under 19 Men’s Quadruple Scull crew of Jonah Wilson, Billy Osborne, Lindsay Hamilton and Chad Willett also won their C Final and finished as the thirteenth ranked crew in their boat class. 

Deputy Performance Director, Jaime Fernandez OLY, said, “It was a wonderful day of racing for our Under 19 crews. What today highlighted was the importance of ensuring we can have our younger athletes exposed to international competition. The standard of this World Championship regatta is at a significantly higher level (than previous years), which is fantastic.”   

Fernandez further commented and said, “What was so pleasing to see was that all our crews, no matter what race or final they were in, were always trying to improve, execute their plans on a more consistent level and take learnings from one race into the next.”