Despite the Plovdiv tailwind having lightened, the first day of finals at the 2025 European Rowing Championships saw two world best times and several more European Championship best times set in thrilling racing.

Romania ended the day on top of the medal standings with three golds, two silver and one bronze medal, ahead of the Netherlands with two golds and one silver.

Sheremet dominates historic PR1 women’s single sculls

Ukraine’s Anna Sheremet completed her European Rowing Championship medal collection with gold in the PR1 women’s single sculls in a EChBT of 9:56.60. Sheremet, still just 24 years old but a seasoned competitor at international level, took the lead from the first stroke and never looked back. Dutch sculler Eva Mol won silver, her first European Championships medal and also a first for the Netherlands; and Claire Ghiringhelli’s bronze was Switzerland’s first-ever para-rowing medal in any boat class at the European Rowing Championships.

Result: UKR, NED, SUI, POL

Sheremet said: “It was unpredictable and unbelievable to win this European championships.”

Pritchard smashes world best time for first European gold

Paralympic champion Benjamin Pritchard (Great Britain) had never won a European Rowing Championships, but he set that right in Plovdiv with an assured performance. Under pressure from his competition in the first 500m, Pritchard stretched out to a clear-water lead in the second quarter of the race and continued to extend the margin in the second half, eventually winning in a huge world best time of 8:40.38, seven seconds faster than his heat time. 2024 champion Roman Polianskyi (UKR) took silver, with Italy’s Giacomo Perini the bronze medallist. Alexis Sanchez (France) started well, but could not maintain that speed and finished fourth.

Result: GBR, UKR, ITA, FRA, ESP, ISR

Pritchard said: “I’m very rigid in my timetables and something went wrong this morning, I pushed off a little bit too early, so I arrived at the start about 18 minutes (before) and I normally arrive about 10. So I was sat at the start going ‘do I do anymore, or do I just believe in what I’ve done?’ I chose to sit there. But it proves that I know what I’m doing, and if I go out there and race my race, good things will happen.”

Germany first PR3 Mix2x to break seven minutes

Germany’s Kathrin Marchand and Valentin Luz are new to the PR3 mixed double sculls, but they have started their time in the boat in style. After setting a world best time in the preliminary race they again led out the final, with Great Britain’s Annabel Caddick and Samuel Murray chasing but unable to make much dent on the Germans’ early lead. At the finish, Germany claimed gold in a world best time of 6:57.41 – the first PR3 mixed double sculls crew to break the seven-minute mark. Great Britain were second, and Ukraine’s Dariia Kotyk and Stanislav Samoliuk took bronze.

Result: GER, GBR, UKR, AIN, ESP

Luz said: “We changed a few little things with respect to our rowing technique and apparently it worked quite nicely today. The conditions were also pretty fast, and we put in everything we’ve got today.”

Radis and Rusu storm to victory in women’s pair

Italy’s Laura Meriano and Alice Codato took the women’s pair final on from the buzzer, leading out to a good lead at 500m and hanging on at halfway. But Romania’s Maria Magdalena Rusu and Simona Radis – new to this boat class, but not to top-level racing – put in a huge push and by the finish had opened up a clear water lead. They won in another EChBT of 6:49.18. Italy managed to hang on for silver, their best result in this boat class, but came under pressure in the finish from Great Britain’s European Rowing Championships debutants Eleanor Brinkhoff and Megan Slabbert, who took bronze.

Result: ROU, ITA, GBR, SRB, DEN, CZE

Radis said: “It was a hard and difficult race, but it was a good one. We took a good start, a strong one, even though we weren’t in front. But the final is important, and we set a new European record. Our road is just at the beginning.”

Gold for Romania’s Florins in men’s pair

Romanian men’s pair Florin Arteni and Florin Lehaci have looked good throughout the competition, and they set a third EChBT to win in 6:11.57 in the final after leading through every marker. The race for the minor medals was a good one; Italy’s Nunzio di Colandrea and Giovanni Codato were in fourth at the 500m point, but had moved through into second by halfway in an extremely tight contest, tracked by Spain’s Jaime Canalejo and Javier Garcia, whose seven-year experience together continues to show. Greece and Lithuania were also in the conversation early on, but faded as the race progressed. Codato’s medal means his family won two medals in the space of minutes in Plovdiv, with his sister Alice a silver medallist in the women’s pair.

Result: ROU, ITA, ESP, LTU, SUI, GRE

Lehaci said: “I would not say we expected to win, because it’s like a bad charm for us, but we came here very prepared and that saw in the time.”

Tiefenthaler wins fiery lightweight women’s singles final

The lightweight women’s single sculls final proved to be a cracker. Lara Tiefenthaler of Austria had the early lead, but was tracked throughout by the rest of the field. Isobel Clements of Ireland sat in silver medal position for much of the race, but when it came to the sprint she found herself caught by both Norway’s Maia Lund and Mariia Zhovner (AIN). As these two closed in on Tiefenthaler the Austrian clung on, but it was a photofinish for silver – given to Lund by 0.03 seconds. Tiefenthaler’s winning time of 7:29.38 was an EChBT.

Result: AUT, NOR, AIN, IRL, HUN, CRO

Tiefenthaler said: “From the beginning it was a tough race because she (Lund) was always only one and a half lengths away. In the single it’s another challenge of racing, and this is definitely the best win for me so far.”

Kress holds off Koroglu for lightweight men’s singles gold

The lightweight men’s single sculls final was just as exciting as the women’s event earlier. Fabio Kress of Germany led out the young field, but there was really little in it at each marker between the leading three scullers. Türkiye’s Halil Kaan Koroglu managed to get his bows in front of AIN sculler Mikita Karneyeu, while Kress slightly extended his lead in the third 500m – only for Koroglu to charge, and almost do enough to catch Kress. In the end, it was gold for Germany in an EChBT of 6:51.24, silver for Türkiye and bronze for AIN.

Result: GER, TUR, AIN, IRL, NOR, FIN

Kress said: “It’s so great, but I’m so exhausted. Last year in October I moved to another city and I actually wanted to quit, but it turned out that training went pretty well besides my studies so I decided to go on. I had a pretty good season so far on a national level, and also here, so I’m very very grateful to have the opportunity to race here.”

Dutch hold off Greek lightweights in women’s doubles

The women’s double sculls was the first chance to see how former lightweights would stack up in a final against openweight rowers – and Greece’s Olympic bronze medallists Zoi Fitsiou and Dimitra Kontou came very close to defeating Dutch duo Roos de Jong and Tessa Dullemans, Olympic silver medallists in the women’s quadruple sculls. The Netherlands were fastest out of the blocks, chased by Ireland, but Greece moved into second place by the 500m mark and stayed there, charging hard into the finish and almost catching the Dutch on the line. The margin was just 0.26 seconds, but it was still Greece’s first European medal in this boat class. Andrada-Maria Morosanu and Mariana-Laura Dumitru took bronze for Romania.

Result: NED, GRE, ROU, IRL, GBR, ESP

Kontou said: “I feel very excited because I just wanted to enjoy the race, and I enjoyed the maximum. I’m very happy that we are bringing the silver medal, and I’m thirsty for the next.”

Poland shock Romania for gold

Romania’s European and Olympic champions Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache were the form crew of the regatta in the men’s double sculls, coming close to the world best time in Friday’s semifinals – but they were surprised by Poland’s Miroslaw Zietarski and Mateusz Biskup in the final. The Poles took the race on from the start, leaving the rest of the field scrambling to catch up. Ireland were up there throughout, exchanging second and third with Italy for much of the race, before Cornea and Enache unleashed a sprint that took them into silver medal position on the line, with Ireland holding on for bronze. The result matches Ireland’s best-ever finish at a European Rowing Championships in this event, and is a first openweight medal for Fintan McCarthy and a first-ever medal for Konan Pazzaia.

Result: POL, ROU, IRL, ITA, SRB, SUI

Biskup said: “It was the most intensive race of my life. Right after the start we knew that we have to run as fast as we can, because we knew that Romania is very fast in the second 1000. So we have to make the best position in the first 1000 for us.”

Dutch sprint catches Romania in women’s four

The women’s four final was yet another thriller, with another EChBT at the end of it. With the Netherlands having won the preliminary race by a length, Romania seemed determined not to let that happen again and charged out of the blocks. But the Dutch stayed calm, and with the experience of women’s pair Olympic champion Ymkje Clevering in the three-seat, tracked Romania through the middle of the race. They then unleashed a big push and had caught Romania in the last 100m, doing enough to win in a time of 6:19.60. Great Britain were a comfortable third.

Result: NED, ROU, GBR, FRA, ITA, ESP

Offereins said: “I love to make it a bit exciting for the public. We’re only together for three weeks training – it was also going well in training, and here on the water, it’s very nice.”

Romania take men’s four gold in thriller

The men’s four final finished off Saturday’s racing on a high, with a close race for the medals. Romania, who have kept their crew consistent year-on-year, led out the race ahead of the Netherlands, with Croatia not far behind. And it was Croatia whose power took them into second by halfway, as Martin and Valent Sinkovic and Anton and Patrik Loncaric piled the pressure on the leaders. By 500m to go, it was neck-and-neck – but Romania had more in the tank, and took the win. It was, however, Croatia’s first-ever European medal in this boat class. Meanwhile France came through the Netherlands in the second half to take bronze by 0.16 seconds, a result they were delighted with.

Result: ROU, CRO, FRA, NED, ITA, UKR

Romania’s Ciprian Tudosa said: “It was a tough race with a very good field. Croatia is a very strong team, I competed with them in the men’s pair in the past. We respected our strategy. I kept my head in the boat and just followed the speed and nothing else from the outside.”

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