On the final day of the 2026 European Rowing Championships, Sophie Souwer stepped out of one boat and into another. Less than an hour separated her two medals.
A last-minute seat in the eight
Souwer was not supposed to race the women's eight. Alice Gnatta was injured, and Souwer was called in at the last minute — into a sweep boat, on the biggest day of the regatta.
The final itself was tight. Romania led and won, as they usually do in this event. Behind them, Italy went after Great Britain the whole way down the course and crossed the line third, around two seconds off the British crew. It is Italy's fourth consecutive European bronze in the women's eight.
Crew: Clara Guerra, Sophie Souwer, Angelica Merlini, Giorgia Pelacchi, Silvia Terrazzi, Elisa Mondelli, Laura Meriano, Alice Codato, coxed by Emanuele Capponi.
Straight back on the water
She got off the eight, got into the mixed double with Niels Torre, and went to the start again.
At 500 metres they were fifth. Then they started moving. They took back the Netherlands, then Ukraine, and finished third — 1.55 seconds behind Germany and 2.54 behind Romania. A second bronze, in a boat class she had raced in the same session.
It was not an easy day for anyone on the lake. Thunderstorms had stopped racing for roughly two and a half hours in the morning, and when the finals finally went off, the crews were rowing into a headwind on a compressed schedule.
The long way back
Souwer is 39. She was born in the Netherlands and raced for the Dutch team from 2013 to 2021: World Championship gold in the quadruple sculls in 2017, world bronze in 2018 and 2019, European silverware, and two Olympic Games — the eight in Rio 2016, the single in Tokyo 2020.
After Tokyo she stopped. She was, in her own words, empty. A back injury, a long stressful build-up, and no real desire to keep going.
Then her son Michele was born in April 2024, and later that summer she watched the Paris Games from the outside. Something didn't sit right — the feeling of not having gone as far as she could. In 2025 she returned to international racing, this time in the blue of Italy, and made her debut for her new country at the World Cup in Varese, on the same lake where she has now won two European medals. She rows for Canottieri Pescate. Her husband and coach is Martino Goretti.
Her stated goal is Los Angeles 2028.
What comes next
The World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam are only a few weeks away. Varese was never the target — it was a hard, honest test at the end of a heavy training block, in bad conditions, with a boat change she didn't plan for.
Two medals in an afternoon is a good answer.
Sophie Souwer is part of the SUPERSPORT family. You can read her full athlete profile here.
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