Anticipation and excitement in the 2020 European Rowing Junior Champs finals

Women’s Coxed Four – Final
Romania took the early lead in this race but Ukraine crept ahead and led by just half a canvas at the halfway marker and then maintained the lead to the end to be crowned European Rowing Junior Champions. All three crews did a great job throughout the race with Russia putting the pressure on Romania as the crews approached the finish line.

Final: UKR, ROU, RUS

Men’s Coxed Four – Final
The race began with a fantastic contest between France and Ukraine for the lead with Ukraine leading by just two tenths of a second at the 500m marker. France made a push just before the 1000m marker but the margin remained a canvas to Ukraine. In the final stages of the race, Ukraine made a push for the line with France responding and increasing their boat speed but not quite having enough time to take the lead.

Final: UKR, FRA, HUN, RUS

Women’s Quadruple Sculls – Final
Romania stamped their clear authority on the race from the start with a great battle for the other two medal positions. France, Switzerland and the Czech Republic had a great tussle through the middle of the race. By the final part of the race, Switzerland had moved into silver medal position with France very close behind.

Final: ROU, SUI, FRA, CZE, IRE, POL

Women’s Single Sculls – Final
At the half-way marker it was Viyaleta Dzmitryieva of Belarus leading the race ahead of Wiktoria Kalinowska of Poland, who finished 5th in the same boat class at last year’s European Rowing Junior Championships. Defending Champion Daria Stavynoga of Ukraine was in third place at the 1000 and held that position throughout the race. In the second half of the race, the lead was unchanged despite Kalinowska challenging Dzmitryieva in the final stages of the race.

Final: BLR, POL, UKR, ROU, HUN, TUR

Men’s Single Sculls – Final
Victor Marcelot had a commanding lead and controlled the whole race finishing over four seconds ahead of Cristian-Vasile Nicora of Romania. Roko Boskovic of Croatia held third position throughout the race. Further down the field, Nichita Naumciuc of Moldova worked his way from the back of the field to finish fifth, just behind Omer Bayram of Turkey.

Final: FRA, ROU, CRO, TUR, MDA, RUS

“I started strong and I was able to control the race from the 500m mark. They tried to come back right at the last 250 but I was able to push a little bit more to the finish line. I am so happy to take home the European Junior Champion title. It rewards a great season of training for me.” – Victor Marcelot, Men’s single sculls, France, Gold.

Women’s Pair – Final
The Romanian pair had a strong lead moving well ahead of the field. With France comfortably in second place, it left a battle for third position between Spain and Poland, just half a second between them at 1000m. The Romanians looked confident and composed throughout the race and led the way to the finish. France remained in second and the impact of the battle between Spain had Poland started to show, allowing Turkey to row through into bronze modal position.

Final: ROU, FRA, TUR, ESP, POL, SUI 

Men’s Pair – Final
In similar form to the women’s pair, the gold medal looked set fairly early on but there was a great race for the other two medals. The Romanians made the race look effortless making the crew from Belarus work hard. Belarus seemed to run out of steam in the final stage of the race allowing Spain to close the gap meaning a photo finish was required for the silver medal. Spain took the eventual honours, by less than half a second.

Final: ROU, ESP, BLR, TUR, GRE, SUI

Women’s Four – Final
At 500m all six crews were within just over two seconds of each other. By 1000m the field had separated into two sections with France trying to challenge the current leaders, Greece.  Meanwhile, there was a fierce battle for bronze between Romania and Spain and Russia also trying to close the gap. It was all to play for in the final quarter of the race with France moving into the lead and Russia moving through Spain and Romania to take the bronze medal.

Final: FRA, GRE, RUS, ESP, ROU, POL 

“We did what we do best – stroke after stroke, trying to jump at the 1000m mark and control from then on.  We did not panic and we won it. It’s our final year as juniors and what a way to end it : with a European Junior title !” – Lou-Anne Caniard, Women’s Quadruple sculls, France, Gold.

Men’s Four – Final
France made the early impression in this race but Romania were just one second behind at the halfway marker. The Romanians took the lead in the final quarter of the race but France kept attacking. In the end, the French crew ran out of steam and the Romanians took gold with Poland holding on to the bronze medal position.

Final: ROU, FRA, POL, ESP, SRB, TUR

Men’s Quadruple Sculls – Final
Having clocked the fastest time in the heats, Czech Republic went into the race as the favourites. There was just a canvas separating the top three crews at 1000m with Czech Republic leading Russia and Ireland in third position. The Irish crew made a strong push in the third quarter of the race, with Russia having to respond and gaining half a length on Czech Republic within ten strokes. The final sprint from Russia paid off as they sculled through to take gold.

Final: RUS, IRE, CZE, BLR, POL, SUI

Women’s Eight – Final
The young Serbian crew suffered from some steering difficulties in this race allowing Romania to confidently lead Belarus, crossing the line just over a length ahead.

Final: ROU, BLR, SRB

Men’s Double Sculls – Final
In what was certainly the tightest contest of the day, Poland, Spain and Switzerland started the race strong and were neck-and-neck at the 1000m mark. That’s when the Spanish double decided to pull away. Pablo Moreno and Caetano Horta Pombo  managed to hold off Poland right at the line. Greece managed to overtake Switzerland right at the line to take home bronze.

Final: ESP, POL, GRE, SUI, HUN, FRA

“We tried our best to escape from the other crews. We were in the center lane so we were able to control a little bit the rest of the field. We are really happy to bring home gold to Spain.” – Pablo Moreno, Men’s double sculls, Spain, Gold.

Women’s Double Sculls – Final
Belarus started the race very strong with only two seconds separating the five remaining crews at the 500m mark. The Swiss crew tried to close the gap at the 1500m but Anastasiya Rusak and Darya Vyrupayeva were simply too strong and got a well-deserved gold medal. Switzerland just held off a late push from Greece to take home the silver medal.

Final: BLR, SUI, GRE, FRA, SLO, RUS

Men’s Eight – Final
For the final event of the day – and with the wind picking up on the regatta course – the Russian crew executed perfectly their game plan – start fast, control the race, and elevate their stroke rate in the last 500m. The Czechs tried to come back but there was nothing to do to catch up the great eight from Russia. The final sprint saw Ukraine take home bronze.

Final: RUS, CZE, UKR, ROU, CRO, SER