Under 19 rowers race in Spain at 2022 Coupe de la Jeunesse

Great Britain, Italy and France led the way with the most entries for this year’s Coupe de la Jeunesse rowing regatta in Castrelo de Mino, Spain with Great Britain securing the top of the medals table at the end of three days of racing.

More than 400 rowers took part in the Coupe which features two days of finals so that rowers can maximise their racing.  Races are for under 19 year-olds with competition in 14 boat classes.

Winning Saturday’s final in the men’s single sculls was Marco Gilardoni of Italy in a time of 7:33 Followed by James Graham (GBR) who was just 0.20 of a second back with Switzerland’s William McClean in third. The order remained the same on Sunday with Gilardoni clocking a quicker time of 7:27 at the finish line.

Great Britain led the way in the women’s single with Ella Fullman finishing ahead of Giorgia Arata of Italy and Selina Bugelnig of Austria in third. The tables turned on Sunday as Arata took gold ahead of Fullman.

The men’s quadruple sculls had the most entries and was won on Saturday by Italy with France and the Czech Republic getting the minor medals. Italy also won on Sunday with Poland and France in silver and bronze respectively. The women’s quad also had good entry numbers and on the Saturday Poland beat France and Great Britain to the line. The Sunday race was almost identical with the finishing order in the final remaining the same.

Sunday saw one of the closest finishes when the men’s pair raced. Great Britain finished first with Switzerland in second and Italy third. The three boats were separated at the finish line by less than a second.

Founded in 1985, the Coupe de la Jeunesse is open to 16 European nations and this year 15 of the member nations raced. With 14 boat classes the regatta is exclusively for under-19 rowers and it gives the opportunity for the rowers to get a taste of international competition. Many of the competitors are at their first international regatta.

For 2023 the Couple de la Jeunesse will go to Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Results can be found here.