By Julian Linden, OCA Media
Nagoya, Japan, September 24, 2026: China’s rowers cleaned up at the Asian Games, winning a near perfect nine gold and a silver medal from the 10 events they entered at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course on Thursday.
Despite picking a team that included many younger members preparing for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the Chinese almost equalled their record for the most golds at an Asian Games away from home.
They fell just two short of the 11 they harvested at Hangzhou 2022 but, under new rules to stop nations sweeping the board, China was only allowed to enter competitors in 10 of the 14 categories so skipped the men’s and women’s lightweight classifications.
“We take every race seriously and aim for gold,” teenager Zhang Xinyu said after winning the women’s single sculls final.
“Even when we’re at a disadvantage, we’ll give it our all. Our overall strength lies in always striving, and taking things seriously.”
Just 19, Zhang was the youngest member of the Chinese team to win gold but not the least experienced.
Wang Sixuan, who teamed up with Shen Shuangmei to win the women’s doubles sculls, only made her international rowing debut a few months ago at age 26.
“It’s my first year. I set some goals for myself and I worked hard to achieve those goals,” she said. “I won also because my partner is the best.
“Now I will work hard to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games.”
Only two years older than Wang, Shen carried the extra burden of being the senior member of the pairing because she had won gold with a different partner at Hangzhou.
“I felt a little pressure, but I think pressure is a form of growth. I like the pressure, I feel I can overcome it,” she said.
China won each of the five women’s events they entered - single sculls, double sculls, quadruple sculls, coxless pair and coxless four.
Their men won four golds - finishing second only in the coxless pairs but taking the coxless four - one of the few events they didn’t win at Hangzhou.
“It was a pity that we didn’t win it as a host country and now we have won it back in a different place,” said team member Bian Shihao.
“It feels awesome and exciting. Chinese rowing will just get better and better and I believe that we are capable. Our group will just get better.”
Ou Zhiwei, part of the team that won the men’s quadruple sculls, predicted that this was just the start of bigger things for Chinese rowing.
“What we need to improve is our experience in major international competitions, and we need to refine our overall performance on the world stage,” he said.
