"VAN" (Sports Desk - 16.05.2025) :: The 2025 European Rowing Championships are set to take place in Plovdiv, Bulgaria from 29 May to 1 June, with 517 athletes from 32 countries participating - the biggest contingents coming from Germany, Great Britain, and Romania.
As the first senior International Rowing regatta of the season and the first in this post-Olympic and post-Paralympic year, Plovdiv will be an opportunity for European crews to check on the progress they have made in off-season training, and to find their swing in this new cycle. It is also a time for new rowers to come through into the senior ranks following inevitable post-Paris retirements or the usual year off by others.
The men’s single sculls has attracted the largest number of entries. With the absence of the reigning European, World, and Olympic Champion, Oliver Zeidler, the Paris 2024 silver medallist in the single, Yauheni Zalaty, is the top name to watch. He will have to compete against Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champion, Stefanos Ntouskos of Greece, but also the bronze medallist from last year’s European Championships, Giedrus Bieliauskas of Lithuania.
This event will also feature the highly anticipated debut of Martin and Valent Sinkovic of Croatia in the men’s four, with another set of brothers, Patrik and Anton Loncaric. The Sinkovic brothers have a collection of Olympic medals, won in three different boat classes: a silver in the men’s quadruple sculls from London 2012, a gold in the double sculls from Rio 2016, and two gold medals in the men’s pair, from Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. They are now entering in a tough boat class where lots of new combination will make their debut – including the Netherlands, with Paris 2024 Olympic Champion Finn Florijn.
The women’s single sculls has Paris 2024 bronze medallist Viktorija Senkute of Lithuania meeting 2024 European Championships’ silver medallist, Alexandra Foester of Germany. Foester is also a three-time World Rowing Under 23 Champion, and after finishing 7th in Paris for her first Olympic regatta, certainly one of the top names to watch in the women’s single.
Both the men’s and women’s eights have eight entries. On the women’s side, the Romanians have won the last eight European Championships titles in that boat class, and with five Olympic champions from Paris returning in their flagship boat, they will be the crew to beat. The men’s field is more open, with the reigning Olympic champions of Great Britain entering a completely new crew. They will see familiar foes with Germany, Netherlands, and Romania.
Four of the five Paralympic boat classes will be contested at the 2025 European Rowing Championships. The PR1 men’s single sculls has Paris 2024 Paralympic champion Benjamin Pritchard competing against Roman Polianskyi of Ukraine and Giacomo Perini of Italy – this was the podium in Szeged last year. The PR1 women’s single is wide open, with the absence of Birgit Skarstein and Moran Samuel – Anna Sheremet of Ukraine, who finished 4th in Paris last year, is the top name to watch.
Earlier this year, World Rowing adopted a new progression system: the first two crews from each heat will progress directly to the next round of racing. The remaining spots for the next round will be filled with the fastest qualifying times from the heats; This means repechages are now eliminated, optimising the racing schedule while ensuring the best crews advance in a streamlined format.
Racing begins on Thursday 29 May with Heats, and will continue through to semi-finals, with finals on Saturday 31 May, Sunday 1 June.
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