Galtarossa Wins Single at Italian National Championships

Italy’s top rowers competed in the Italian National Championships this weekend in Milan, Italy.

A total of 1073 athletes from 118 clubs and making up 444 crews raced in the event which brought together senior, junior and lightweight athletes.

Many Sydney Olympians took part in the three day event including men’s quad gold medallist Agostino Abbagnale.

Rossano Galtarossa – also a member of Sydney quad crew – took the men’s single sculls in front of lightweight Elia Luini – world double sculls champion, and Luca Ghezzi from last season’s Olympic men’s eight.

After the race, Galtarossa told an Italian newspaper he was very happy with his victory in the single scull as this boat class had always been special to him. He was not disturbed by the headwind which seemed to prove more of a problem for his opponent – lightweight rower Elia Luini.

Dario Lari and Rosario Gioia, World Championship finalists, took the men’s coxless pairs title.

Probably the most impressive win in these championships was in the men’s quad, where Marina Militare, the Italian Navy club crew, including Lucerne bronze medallist Franco Berra beat Sydney gold medallists Simone Raineri and Agostino Abbagnale – whose crew member Alessio Sartori was out due to illness – by over eight seconds.

The men’s eight was won by the Fiamme Gialle Customs Police crew of Vincenzo Di Palma, Giuseppe Musumeci, Sergio Canciani, Rosario Gioia, Dario Lari, Valerio Pinton, Gabriele Benincà, Andrea Rebek and Paolo Loriato who took the race by 5.8 seconds.

The lightweight men’s eight also saw the victory of some great names, the Forestale crew including World Championship medallists Stefano Basalini, Leonardo Pettinari, Filippo Mannucci and Carlo Gaddi took the race by 12 seconds in front of the University of Pavia crew.

The women’s single scull was marked by the victory of Erika Spinello who beat Elisabetta(name) Brugo and Martina Orzan. Orzan took the Women’s lightweight single sculls.

The Club ranking trophy was won by the Italian Customs Police club known as Fiamme Gialle of which Raineri and Abbagnale are members.

For full results of the Italian National Championships visit the official website on www.canottaggio.org .