A Romanian romance – the women’s pair

The pair can be described as trying to balance on a rounded log when you only have half of the control. It is not easy, but it is a boat that has served some rowers remarkably well. Often used as the benchmark for making up bigger sweep boats, the pair is used in numerous countries to decide who the top sweep rowers are.

Some of the top names in women’s rowing have been associated with the pair including Canada’s great Marnie McBean and Kathleen Heddle.

But many of the names are Romanian.

Romania can claim to be the most successful country in the pair. Andrunache, nee Damian, won five Olympic gold medals (three of them in the pair) and one bronze at three consecutive Olympics in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

Andrunache’s story into rowing is one that is well-known in Romania. When talent scouts came to her school (in Botosani where a number of Romanian rowers come from), Andrunache was selected for rowing primarily because of her physiological measurements. “I found myself among the selected students, without having any knowledge about rowing,” describes Andrunache. “It was obvious that after the first trainings, I loved it because in only seven years I was part of the Romanian Olympic Team. If I would have another chance I’d still choose rowing.”

Andrunache is the fourth most medalled rower of all time and the second most successful female rower of all time after Germany’s Kathrin Boron. Her partner in the pair on two of her Olympic gold medal occasions was Viorica Susanu. Susanu is another of the great Romanian pair rowers who helped her country dominate the pair through the 1990s. Also in this era, in 2002, Andrunache and Susanu set the World Best Time of 6:53.80, a time that remains to this day.

Both Andrunache and Susanu retired after the 2008 Olympics with Andrunache being recognised for her great success by carrying the Romanian flag at the closing ceremony in Beijing.

When women’s rowing became an Olympic sport in 1976, the pair was one of the events included on the Olympic programme. Although Romania did not win at the Montreal Olympics, they finished sixth and then went on to be strong through the eighties. Rodica Arba won gold at both the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games (with different partners).

Leading into the London Olympics the emphasis has somewhat moved away from Romania. Currently at the top are New Zealand’s Juliette Haigh and Rebecca Scown. Haigh and Scown have won back-to-back World Championship titles and, for this reason, they go to London as favourites. But at the 2011 World Rowing Championships, Haigh and Scown were behind Great Britain (Helen Glover and Heather Stanning) for the entire race, then passed them in the very last stroke. Glover and Stanning, second in both 2010 and 2011 will be a powerful force to reckon with.

Romania, however, is known to step up their game in an Olympic year and their top two contenders in recent years have been Camelia Lupascu and Nicoleta Albu who, like their predecessors, regularly double up in the eight. Lupascu, 25, and Albu, 23, who have several European titles to their name and finished fifth at last year’s World Rowing Championships will be competing at their first Olympic Games.

Did you know?

• The women's pair is one of the original events on the Olympic rowing programme when women's rowing was first included at the Olympic Games in 1976.
• Bulgaria won the first Olympic gold medal in the women's pair.
• Steering in a pair is done by the movement of a rudder through strings attached to the foot of one of the rowers.

Olympic Medal Table