When last we checked in with Vashon’s Jacob Plihal, he had just placed 13th in the men’s single sculls at the 2024 summer Olympics in Paris. His performance in Paris was even stronger than that placing would suggest, as he set the U.S. Olympic record for the single in his final race.

With Paris in the rear-view mirror and the Los Angeles games not until 2028, you might think there would be a little downtime in the schedule for Olympic athletes.

But you would be wrong: There is a cadence in international rowing, with the World Championships held every year — this year in Shanghai, China — and a series of contests leading up to those championships. For three days in mid-June, athletes converged on Varese, Italy for the first World Rowing Cup event.

Varese, located about 45 miles northwest of Milan in the northernmost part of Italy, is a beautiful land of hills and lakes, rich in castles, villas and churches that date back to the sixteenth century. The rowing venue itself is on Lake Varese with the Campo di Fiori mountain range forming a picturesque background.

The men’s singles event featured twenty-five rowers from the usual array of powerhouse countries, including New Zealand, Great Britain, Netherlands, Italy, Brazil, Belgium and China. On Friday, June 13, Plihal won his heat (the fourth out of five) and then later in the day won his quarterfinal race. Both times were under 6:50 minutes, considered strong performances.

In Saturday’s semifinal, Plihal faced Dutch racer Simon van Dorp, a former University of Washington rower who won bronze at the 2024 Olympics in the men’s single event and who currently holds the world record for 2,000-meters on a rowing machine. Plihal, being very tall for the sport, usually starts slower than his competition, and this race was no exception. He chased van Dorp down the course to finish in second, just three-quarters of a second behind. Sunday’s final was a replay of the semifinal, with Plihal winning the silver medal about two seconds behind van Dorp.

“I was quite pleased and to be honest a bit surprised at the result,” Plihal remarked. “Based on where I thought my speed was heading into the regatta, a bronze medal would have been the highest result I would have thought possible, so to surpass that was thrilling. Piecing together four consecutive races under 6:50 was also a great step in my development.”

World Cup 2 was held June 26-29 in Lucerne, Switzerland, and the U.S. coaches mixed things up a bit putting Jacob in the men’s quadruple sculls boat and the men’s eight. Jacob’s earlier international racing in the quad dates back eight years to 2017.

The course is on the Rotsee, which is about the minimum size needed for a 2,000-meter race. Nestled in hills of grazing cows, their bells tinkling in the distance, the course is protected and has been a site for international regattas dating to the 1930s.

Friday’s races brought 11 entries in total and the U.S. quad placed second in its heat to move on to Sunday’s A final. In that final the U.S. quad placed third for the bronze medal, trailing Great Britain and Poland and besting Germany, Austria and China. In the men’s eight, the U.S. placed fifth out of six boats.

A point system across the two World Cup regattas aggregates results from all the events, and this year Great Britain came in first in this tally, with the U.S. earning second in a very strong showing.

Next up for Jacob is the U.S. team trials, to be held in New Jersey from August 1-3. There, U.S. entries will be selected for the World Championships in Shanghai in September.

Don’t let that passport lapse, Jacob!

Pat Call is a freelance writer for the Beachcomber and a masters rower.