A gold rush by Great Britain and Germany saw the British storm to the top of the medal standings at the end of the 2025 European Rowing Championships.

A series of close races brought the championships to an end on a high, with a number of historic medals across the events contested on Sunday and more European Championship best times (EChBTs) broken.

Great Britain finished the regatta with six golds, a silver and two bronze medals, ahead of Germany with five golds and a silver.

Germany win PR2 mixed doubles in fantastic race

Germany’s Jasmina Bier and Paul Umbach had won the preliminary race in this event, followed home by Israel’s Shahar Milfelder and Saleh Shahin with Anna Aisanova and Iaroslav Koiuda of Ukraine in third. And from the start it looked like there would be a similar result in the final, with the German double leading out. However this time around Israel were not content to sit back, putting in a push in the second 500m that took their bows in front by halfway. Germany responded, and it was bowball to bowball in the third quarter. In the final 500m Bier and Umbach stretched out their lead and Ukraine charged through a fading Israel to claim silver. Germany’s time of 8:04.35 was quick, just two seconds outside the EChBT.

Result: GER, UKR, ISR

Bier said: “It was amazing, and I think we pretty much showed them that we can fight, we can do it, and this time we made it. After missing out on the Paralympics last year this was our chance to make up for it. It’s still a long way to LA, but at least we’ve made a good first step.”

Two in a row for Germany

Brothers Maximilian and Alexander Aigner claimed gold for Germany in the lightweight men’s pair final, taking a lead of about a length by 500m and extending across the rest of the course. Behind them, Georgia’s Davit Lashkareishvili and Giorgi Kanteladze put in a number of pushes that kept them ahead of Moldovans Nichita Naumciuc and Dmitrii Zincenco, who took bronze.

Result: GER, GEO, MDA, ARM

Maximilian Aigner said: “That’s by far our biggest success. It’s the first time we row for our nation, and it’s a big success, a great honour – incredible.”

Great Britain defend quads title

There was nothing to pick between the six crews off the start in the final of the women’s quadruple sculls. By the 500m mark it was Great Britain and the Netherlands who had started to stretch out a little ahead of Germany and France, and the British – defending champions, albeit with only Lola Anderson returning from the 2024 boat – continued to move in the third quarter as Germany and France attacked the Dutch. Into the final 500m Germany and the Netherlands were level for the minor medals, and their race closed in on the British, but not enough to take gold. Great Britain set an EChBt of 6:11.00. France, who had beaten Great Britain in the heats in an EChBT, caught a crab and found themselves off the back of the pack.

Result: GBR, GER, NED, UKR, ROU, FRA

Anderson said: “This year it’s a new Olympiad, a new season, and I’m trying out a new seat (two), where Hannah Scott previously sat. There’s a lot of jobs that that girl did that I wasn’t aware of. So it’s a lot of experience for me and in that sense it made racing feel new again, and I really enjoyed that. You never take any medal for granted, so a gold medal is epic.

Great Britain win first-ever men’s quad title

Remarkably, Great Britain have never won the European Championships in the men’s quadruple sculls, and have not reached the podium since 2019. They put that straight on Sunday with an assured performance: starting steady and then charging through the fast-starting Polish crew in the middle of the race. Drawing just ahead at 1000m, the British men had done enough to hold on for a historic victory in an EChBT of 5:35.02. The Netherlands outsprinted a fading Poland to take silver in a photofinish by 0.06 seconds.

Result: GBR, NED, POL, ITA, GER, ESP

Great Britain’s Matthew Haywood said: “It’s incredible. It’s nice to go through the rounds and be feeling coming into the race with some confidence that what we’ve been doing in training is really working. I’ve not come close before, I’ve been fourth three years in a row at this event, so it’s nice to really finally get it.”

Germany claim gold in lightweight men’s double sculls

Germany’s Joachim Agne and Finn Wolter took the win by a good margin in the lightweight men’s double sculls final over Austria’s Elias Hautsch and Mathias Mair, replicating the result from the preliminary race.

Result: GER, AUT

Romania’s women’s eights streak broken

Romania, the defending women’s eight champions, had a good start, storming off at 48 strokes a minute – but so did the Netherlands, and in fact it was the orange bows of the Dutch which had the lead at 500m as Great Britain’s longer strokes took them into silver medal position. At halfway Romania were back in fourth with Italy in third. Great Britain put in a push in the third 500m, seeking to get back in touch with the Dutch, and when their bows came in front of the Dutch in the last quarter of the race they were able to keep extending for a half-length victory. The Netherlands won silver, with Italy taking bronze. Romania were fourth, off the podium for the first time since 2016, which was also the last time Great Britain were European champions.

Result: GBR, NED, ITA, ROU, GER, POL

Great Britain’s Juliette Perry said: “We started, and I was just really focused on what our cox was calling. We had a very clear race plan and I think we really executed that. At the 1250 he was ‘right, guys, we’re going to go now’ and the whole crew really committed to that and there was an incredible surge in the boat. It was amazing.”

Zalaty adds European gold to Olympic silver

The 2024 bronze medallist Giedrius Bieliaskaus of Lithuania led out the men’s single sculls final, but Olympic silver medallist Yauheni Zalaty (AIN) was sitting in second and he made his move in the third quarter of the race. That proved devastating, and Zalaty won by more than three seconds ahead of Stefanos Ntouskos of Greece, taking his second silver medal in this event in a row. Romania’s Mihai Chiruta rowed an excellent last 500m to claim bronze – Romania’s first European medal in the men’s single sculls in history.

Result: AIN, GRE, ROU, GER, BUL, LTU

Henry makes golden start to singles career

Lauren Henry had been the fastest women’s single sculler throughout the regatta, but the Briton was not to have the final all her own way. There was nothing splitting the field at the 500m mark, where Denmark’s Frida Nielsen led the way, but Henry had edged ahead at halfway. In the third 500m it was Henry and Ireland’s Fiona Murtagh who were in front of the rest of the competition, with Nielsen holding on to third place. Henry opened out some clear water into the finish to take gold, with Murtagh second and Nielsen third – all three in their debut senior seasons in the women’s single sculls. This was Denmark’s first medal in this event, and the first title for a British sculler since Victoria Thornley won in 2017.

Result: GBR, IRL, DEN, GRE, LTU, NED

Henry said: “It’s very, very special. It’s still early days, but I wanted to come here and make a mark and make a name for myself, and I feel that I’ve done that.”

Great Britain secure five in a row

The men’s eights final delivered a fitting climax to the 2025 European Rowing Championships. Germany had set an EChBT in the heats, but it was the Netherlands who led out the race, looking for a first gold medal in this event in 99 years. They set a blistering pace to the 500m mark, with the rest of the pack only a small margin behind. By halfway the field had started to separate and it was Great Britain challenging the Dutch for the lead. With 500m to go, the two boats were level. The British just found the extra gear in the closing metres to take a win by 0.24 seconds, for their fifth European title in a row. The Netherlands won silver, while Italy produced the fastest last 500m of the field to push Germany out of the medals.

Result: GBR, NED, ITA, GER, POL, ROU

Great Britain’s Matthew Aldridge said: “We executed a really strong race. The rhythm was really strong from Archie (Drummond) at stroke, and then backed up really well by the guys behind me. We executed it exactly as we wanted, went out hard, kept our hands in the fire, and found another gear at the end when we needed to go.”

Tags

Britain and Germany dominate final day in Plovdiv

Monday debrief: 2025 season starts with a bang in Plovdiv

Partners