Jacob Plihal medals twice at World Cup regattas in Europe

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 14, 2026

You could be forgiven if you have the mental image of world rowing as a bit like a hamster wheel: World Cups I, II and III, the World Championships every year and the Olympics every four years.

Those are the frequent flyer opportunities that Vashon’s Jacob Plihal has signed up for. In June, Plihal raced to a silver medal in the men’s single event at World Cup II in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and a bronze in the men’s double at World Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Plovdiv is the longest continuously inhabited European city, dating to the sixth century B.C. — older than Athens or Rome. And its rowing venue is considered one of Europe’s finest.

Nestled in a forest and designed by Olympic champion and fabled course architect Svetla Otzetova, it is largely sheltered from wind and provides fair competition over 10 lanes. Racing proceeded over three consecutive days, with heats followed by semifinals and then finals. Out of 15 initial entrants, six faced off for the A final.

Plihal had won both his heat and his semifinal race, where he edged out his American teammate, Sam Melvin, by about a second and a half.

“I was really happy with my semi. I got off to a strong start and held the advantage through the entire race,” Plihal said. In the final, however, that “wind-protected” course proved to be not so much.

“The starting official called attention when we all had our points,” Plihal said, referring to the shells being pointed down the course. “But then it was the longest time I have ever had to wait to hear ‘go,’” he said.

And in those 10 seconds, a side wind had blown Plihal off point, and he was immediately rowing from behind the field. Plihal caught the eventual third-place rower from Uzbekistan with a powerful sprint finish but finished second to Melvin by a quarter of a second — about a meter and a half over the 2,000-meter course.

In Lucerne, Plihal teamed with fellow Northwest rower Cedar Cunningham, of Renton and WSU, in the men’s double.

Unlike some European teams that have been rowing this boat class since high school, Plihal and Cunningham had relatively little experience together.

Nevertheless, Plihal and Cunningham put together three strong rows, placing third in each of their heat, semifinal and A final races. In the final, they missed a silver medal by a little more than a quarter of a second and were only about a second and a quarter from first place.

Plihal, in stroke seat, or stern, also teamed with Emily Kallfelz, a national team rower from Princeton and 2024 Olympian, in the mixed double event.

Before the race, Plihal and Kallfelz had never taken a stroke together in the same boat but managed to place third for the bronze. Another U.S. entry raced to first place — perhaps they had rowed together before?

After being able to spend the Fourth of July weekend on Vashon, Plihal is back in Princeton for trials with the U.S. national team in advance of the World Championships, which will be held in Amsterdam from Aug. 24 through 30.

The season will finish in September in Shanghai, China, with the World Rowing Sprints — an unusual event over a 500-meter course. Most “sprint” rowing is at 2,000 meters.

Pull hard, Plihal. Vashon sends its best wishes to him on his globe-trotting rowing career.

Pat Call is an occasional contributor to The Beachcomber, specializing in non-traditional sports.