2005 Belgrade International features tough juniors

Stojic stroking for SCG
© Getty Images

The calm waters of Belgrade’s Sava Lake played host to 93 crews from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia & Montenegro going for medals at the Belgrade International Regatta last weekend in Serbia & Montenegro (SCG).

Although the senior competitors from SCG did not have much competition, the junior racing was a different story. For the Serbia & Montenegrin juniors this was the first official test towards national team selection for the World Rowing Junior Championships. 

One of the most hotly contested races on the first day was the junior men’s pair when Serbia & Montenegro’s duo of Jovan Popovic and Goran Todorovic (fourth last year at the junior worlds) faced, among others, two Romanian crews. The seven-second win by Popovic and Todorovic was a surprise as sitting in second was Ionut Hoise and Leon Ani of Romania with Romania’s second crew of Ionel Strungaru and Andrei Tampau back nearly 18 seconds in third. Ani, Strungaru and Tampau all won gold at last year’s World Rowing Junior Championships.

In the junior women’s competition, the Romanians proved to be superior in the races in which they were competed. The junior women’s double was won easily by Nicoleta Albu and Mihaela Coteata. Both rowers competed at last year’s junior worlds with Coteata winning gold in the junior eight.

In the single Romania took first and third spots when two gold medallists from last year’s junior women’s World Champion eight took to the water. Adelina Cojocariu finished first with team mate Angelica Rosus in third. In between them Hermina Vas of Serbia & Montenegro scored the silver. Last year Vas created history when she won the first ever medal for Serbia & Montenegro in women’s rowing. In 2004 Vas finished with bronze at the Balkan Championships for juniors in Romania.

On the second day of racing the “Belgrade Trophy” day, racing was virtually the same as the first day although Romania tried different mixes of their junior crews. In the junior men’s pair Popovic and Todorovic again won for Serbia & Montenegro, this time ahead of Alexandru Mihaila and Ani of Romania with Hoise and Alexandru Blanaru, also of Romania, in third.

Romania came back in the junior men’s four beating Serbia & Montenegro on both regatta days.

In the senior races two-time Olympian Nikola Stojic of Serbia & Montenegro dominated the men’s single on both days. Stojic raced to fifth in the pair at Athens but on head coach Nebojsa Ilic’s advice Stojic changed to the single late last year.

Two weeks ago at the Croatia Open in Zagreb, Stojic beat Olympic gold medallist Luka Spik of Slovenia in the heat but finished second to Spik in the final. Stojic commented after the Open, “I’m not happy with silver. I made a tactical error in the A-final. I let him (Spik) go too soon, and in the finish I could not catch him up.”

Stojic’s partner from Athens, Mladen Stegic, has chosen to retire from international rowing although he is staying involved in the sport by coaching rowers at his club, Partizan.

The Belgrade International is an annual event held at the Ada Ciganlija rowing course on Belgrade’s Sava Lake. The 4.2 kilometre artificial lake has already hosted the World U23 Regatta in 2003 and in 2009 Belgrade will host the University Games.

For more information please go to: www.serbian-rowing.org.yu

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