1924 Pharoes Trophy Seals Oeiras’s Position As Elite Beach Sprint Destination

The second edition of the 1924 Pharoes Trophy, held in Oeiras, Portugal, last weekend, almost doubled participation in the key Olympic disciplines of the senior solos and mixed double, and included representation from more that 25 different countries. The success of the regatta is certain to seal the city’s position as one of the preeminent worldwide beach sprint locations in the run up to LA28 Olympic Games.

China led the overall medal table (three golds, one silver and two bronzes), with Spanish rowers close behind in second (two golds, two silvers and one bronze). Of the results of smaller teams in rowing history, Brazil’s silver medal in the under-19 men’s double and Saudi Arabia’s bronze in the same discipline stand out. Brazil has never won a Olympic medal in rowing or a beach sprint world championship medal, although it does have a handful of medals from flat-water worlds. Saudi Arabia hasn’t yet won a medal in any of those elite competitions.

Oeiras was also the site of the second World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in 2021, and the city will repeat as host next year, in a regatta that will not only decide the 2027 world champions, but also the first qualification places for the LA28 Olympic Games.

Arguably the most hotly contested senior beach sprint races this year will have been the European and World championships, planned for September and October, the final stage of the 2026 Filippi Trophy back in June, and the 1924 Pharoes Trophy. All four will have included representation from more than 20 different countries, and in the case of the two open regattas, in large part those rowers were competing directly for their national teams. In Oeiras, the only two continents not represented were North America (the race clashed with the Boston Beach Sprints) and (unpopulated) Antartica.

There are other important races that could be added to an expanded list, including some of the earlier Filippi Trophy stages, the International Coastal Rowing Beach Sprints LNC Competition in Cyprus, the Cop América in Peru, and, of course, beach sprint’s debut at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. But the relative explosion in participation in Marina di Castagneto (Filippi Trophy) and Oeiras puts those two regattas firmly in the lead.

The complete podiums from the second edition of the 1924 Pharoes Trophy were:

CW1x:

1. Esther Briz Zamorano – Team Elite España (Spain)
2. Isabella Scammell – Australia
3. Bruna Parente – Portugal

CM1x:

1. Li Zhijin – China
2. Ander Martin Domingo – Team Elite España (Spain)
3. Liu Jiayu – China

CMix2x:

1. Mathis Nottelet, Chloe Briard – France
2. Adam Bujnowski, Dominika Baranowska – Poland
3. Afonso Costa, Patricia Batista – Portugal

U19 CW1x:

1. Zhu Weiwei – China
2. Jagna Jurdziak – Poland
3. Demetra Sofia Boschi – Di Bi Rowing Club (Italy)

U19 CM1x:

1. Bo Bairen – China
2. Alfredo Mena Castillo – Los Alcazares (Spain)
3. Manuel Crego Alarcon – Open Bs (Spain)

U19 CM2x:

1. Alexander Rittenbacher, Nikolas Roidmayer – Austria
2. João Silva, Kedson Peres – Brazil
3. Dhari Saleh M Alabbas, Mufleh Fahad Alkhaldi – Saudi Arabia

U19 CMix2x:

1. Blanca Lopez Valera, Alfredo Mena Castillo – Los Alcazares (Spain)
2. Su Juntao, Gong Jiale – China
3. Zhao Xu, Liu Lili – China