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Havildar Lakshay and Ujjwal Kumar Singh won India’s first-ever World Rowing Cup gold at Lucerne 2026, clocking 6:26.09 in the Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls final ahead of Hong Kong and the Netherlands — on their international debut of the season, having missed the previous World Cup due to visa delays.
Lucerne, Switzerland: The Rotsee course has witnessed some of rowing’s most legendary performances across its six Olympic-standard lanes. On Saturday, 27 June 2026, it witnessed one more. Havildar Lakshay and Havildar Ujjwal Kumar Singh scripted history by clinching India’s first-ever gold medal at a World Rowing Cup, clocking a brilliant 6:26.09 to win the Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x) title at the 2026 World Rowing Cup III.
They finished ahead of Hong Kong’s Lam San Tung and Chan Tik Lung, who clocked 6:27.14, with the Dutch crew of Erik van Eijck van Heslinga and Fredrik Ploeg claiming bronze in 6:27.36 — a podium decided by little more than a single second.
About 650 rowers from 42 nations were competing across various categories at the Lucerne championships. India, as they so often have been in aquatic disciplines, were the underdogs. They left as history-makers.
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Soldiers First, Champions Always
The gold medal belongs not just to two athletes but to an entire system — one built inside the Indian Armed Forces.
Both gold medallists are serving soldiers training at the Army Rowing Node (ARN) in Pune, a state-of-the-art facility featuring an international-standard man-made channel designed specifically to cultivate world-class rowing talent.
The broader picture underlines just how dominant the military has become in India’s rowing ambitions: of the 18-member Indian contingent that travelled to Switzerland, 17 athletes are from the Indian Army and one from the Indian Navy.
Reacting to the win, Colonel Ramakrishnan, Commanding Officer of the Army Rowing Node, was unambiguous about its significance.
“This is a historic achievement for Indian rowing. Lakshay and Ujjwal Kumar Singh have won India’s first-ever gold medal at a World Rowing Cup, showcasing the immense potential of our athletes,” he said.
“Their success reflects years of hard work, discipline and world-class training at the Army Rowing Node. This victory is a proud moment for the Indian Army and the nation, and we hope it inspires many more young athletes to pursue excellence in rowing and contribute towards India’s Olympic aspirations.”
Visa Chaos, Zero Races — Then Gold
What makes this performance truly extraordinary is the context in which it was produced.
Severe visa delays forced Lakshay and Ujjwal to miss the previous World Rowing Cup in Bulgaria, meaning that Lucerne was their first international competition of the season. While rival nations such as China and Hong Kong had accumulated valuable race experience earlier in the year, the Indian pair stepped onto the Rotsee with no competitive races behind them in 2026 — and still won.
Rather than easing into the race behind more seasoned competitors, the Indian pair launched an aggressive early surge to lead from the front. As the boats neared the final 500 metres, the gap closed dramatically, with all podium contenders overlapping. The Indian pair showed immense composure to edge out their rivals.
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A 96% Effort With More to Come
Perhaps the most tantalising detail of the entire campaign is this: according to their own coaching team, Lakshay and Ujjwal did not even race at full capacity.
Rowing Federation of India President Balaji Maradappa revealed that telemetry data showed the Indian rowers operating at approximately 96 per cent effort, maintaining a steady 36 strokes per minute compared to the 40 strokes per minute sustained by their immediate competitors.
This is not a coaching boast but a deliberate blueprint — Australian head coach Antony Patterson has designed the programme to ensure the athletes reach 100 per cent physical output in time for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, later this year.
The implication is staggering. A pair that won gold at four per cent below peak, in their first international race of the season, against established European and Asian powerhouses, on one of the world’s most demanding courses.
What happens when they hit full capacity?
Next Stop: Aichi-Nagoya
The response from India’s sporting establishment was swift.
Following the victory, the Rowing Federation of India confirmed that Lakshay and Ujjwal Kumar Singh have been fast-tracked into the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) to optimise their preparations for the 2026 Asian Games.
The Asian Games in Japan represent the next major milestone — and, beyond that, a pathway toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics that now looks more credible than ever before.
For decades, Indian rowing has operated on the margins of global sporting consciousness, winning medals at Asian and Commonwealth levels but never truly breaking through on the world stage. In 6 minutes and 26.09 seconds on the Rotsee, two soldiers in khaki changed that narrative completely.
Result — 2026 World Rowing Cup III | Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls (LM2x)
Lucerne, Switzerland — 27 June 2026
| Medal | Crew | Nation | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 Gold | Hav. Lakshay & Hav. Ujjwal Kumar Singh | 🇮🇳 India | 6:26.09 |
| 🥈 Silver | Lam San Tung & Chan Tik Lung | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | 6:27.14 |
| 🥉 Bronze | Erik van Eijck van Heslinga & Fredrik Ploeg | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 6:27.36 |
Head Coach: Antony Patterson (Australia)
Training Base: Army Rowing Node (ARN), Pune
Next Target: 2026 Asian Games, Aichi-Nagoya, Japan
