Benjamin Pritchard won gold at the World Rowing Championships in Shanghai, while Becky Wilde and Cedol Dafydd won silver in the women’s and men’s quads, respectively.

Racing on Friday morning in searing heat, Pritchard was dominant in the PR1 men’s single sculls final, leading from the start and maintaining pressure on the rest of the field.

This result ‘completes the set’ for Pritchard, who won gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympics last summer and broke two world records on the way to European triumph in July.

“This project is an undisputed success,” Pritchard said after the race.

“I’m a Paralympic, European and World  Champion. I’ve broken European records, Paralympic records, and world championship records. I’ll take it all to be honest!

“I wanted to get off quick and hold the lead and towards the end I was holding on for dear life. I was dying in those last five strokes, that’s for sure.”

The heat has been a massive contributing factor to racing in this year’s event, turing the races into tests of stamina, as well as strength and speed.

Pritchard added: “The temperature here is wild. It’s genuinely like rowing in an inferno! I’ve done a lot of heat preparation back home in the UK with our support staff who have been fantastic. But it just doesn’t prepare you for these conditions. This is something else!”

The day before Pritchard won gold, two other Welsh rowers helped their boats win silver in the men’s and women’s quads.

The men’s quadruple sculls was an entertaining race with Welshman Cedol Dafydd, Callum Dixon, Matt Haywood and Rory Harris battling throughout to finish with the silver medal, just behind Italy.

“We came in wanting to win and we knew we could,” said Dafydd.

“Everything went well and we raced our best and unfortunately our best today just wasn’t quite food enough.

“You have to give credit to Italy, they were better than us today and we raced that race again who knows but we did everything we could today.”

The women’s quadruple sculls of Sarah McKay, Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson and Wales’ Becky Wilde also took the silver in another fast paced race, finishing just behind the Dutch.

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