Rowing for Peace - Rowers gather for Memorial Paolo d'Aloja Regatta in Piediluco

Taking place this past weekend on the magnificent Lake Piediluco, the Memorial Paolo d’Aloja Regatta brought in a very international field. From local rowers to Olympic Champions, the regatta drew in athletes from all over the world, and as far away as South Africa. After two days of finals, host nation Italy won the 2022 edition with 77 points, ahead of Romania (58) and Greece (25).

In the first finals, taking place on Saturday 9 April, Romanian Mihai Chiruta took first place in the men’s single sculls ahead of Italy’s Davide Mumolo, while in the women’s single sculls, the Ukrainian Diana Dymchenko got the gold medal. In the women’s quadruple sculls, the Romanians swept the podium. Medalllists in the men’s pair were Romania, South Africa, Serbia, while Italy won gold in the men’s double sculls, with Luca Chiumento and Nicolo Carucci and in both lightweight women’s and men’s double sculls, with Arianna Noseda and Silvia Crosio, and Stefano Oppo and Patrick Rocek. Romania also got gold medals in the women’s pair and in the men’s eight.

On Sunday, the last day of competitions, Italy won the lightweight men’s single sculls with Antonio Vicino, ahead of Estonia’s Elar Loot and Italy’s Martino Goretti. The gold medals were shared between Italy and Romania, with the Tokyo 2020 gold medallists, Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis, continuing their winning streak in the women’s double sculls. Romania also won gold in the women’s four, the lightweight women’s single sculls, and the men’s single sculls – with Mihai Chiruta finishing ahead of Luca Rambaldi, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion, Stefanos Ntouskos of Greece, who finished third.

The Memorial Paolo d’Aloja marks the beginning of the season and is an important race for me. I consider it a bit hard to race, the change of season between winter and summer is always an important moment. My preparation is going well. I’ve found new energy training with Magdalena Lobnig, bronze medallist at the Tokyo Games. We are training together in Sabaudia, and we are getting along well. My first international goal will be World Cup II. – Diana Dymchenko (UKR)

It’s been 20 years that I am taking part in this event. The first time was in 2003 and since then I have come here at least fifteen times in my long career as an athlete. I consider this place magical, lake and nature are fascinating and inspire peace. Today, even in my new role as President of the Federation, I’m happy to bring the team to Piediluco. After the Tokyo Olympics I thought about quitting, but after six months I realised that I still had the desire to row. I started again in January and now I’m training with the goal of qualifying the single sculls for the Paris 2024 Games. Mindaugas Griskonis (LTU)

The Memorial Paolo d’Aloja is a good opportunity to measure our own speed and compare with athletes from other countries. Personally I see it as the start of the new season, even if the first important international appointment for us will be World Cup II. For me it was a tough winter, not ideal. Now we are understanding where to improve in order to find the right shape. Emily Hegarty (IRL)