The Lago di Varese provided flat conditions with a slight tail wind for the opening day of the 2021 European Rowing Championships. There were strong performances from several of the defending European Champions, but also a few surprises and Great Britain, who did not compete in 2020, showing they had still been training hard.

PR1 men’s single sculls (PR1M1x) – Heats

Great Britain’s Benjamin Pritchard took the early lead in heat one, with over two lengths of clear water by the halfway marker. In the second half of the race, second place was all to play for to go directly to the final. Pritchard continued to dominate the race with Israel’s Schmuel Daniel securing the all-important second spot. Defending World and European Champion Roman Polianskyi from Ukraine was first out of the blocks in the second heat going off at 48 strokes per minute. Marcus Klemp of Germany was right on his tail, but Polianskyi gradually moved away throughout the race.

Qualifiers: GBR, ISR, UKR, GER

Women’s pair (W2-) – Heats

Great Britain’s Helen Glover proved that she is back and means business as she and Polly Swann led the first heat from the start. Croatia held the second qualifying spot at halfway, but in the final quarter of the race Greece, who are the bronze medallists from the 2020 European Championships, put on a final sprint to take second place. Defending champions Romania dominated the second heat with clear water by the 1,000m mark. The Irish combination, who finished eighth at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, kept the pressure on and came across the line in second to also go straight to the final.

Qualifiers: GBR, GRE, ROU, IRL

Men’s pair (M2-) – Heats

Defending European Champions Romania dominated the first heat from start to finish with Great Britain just one second behind at halfway. The Romanians had extra speed that the British just couldn’t match in the second half of the race, with Denmark holding off Greece for third place. In the second heat, France took the early lead but Italy, bronze medallists from 2020, moved through in the second 500m and held the lead to the finish. In the third and final heat, it was perhaps no surprise to see the Sinkovic brothers leading from the start. With crisp, sharp rowing, they led throughout but Serbia remained in contact all the way to finish second.

Semifinal A/B Qualifiers: ROU, GBR, DEN, ITA, FRA, NED, CRO, SRB, SLO

Martin and Valent Sinkovic, Men’s Pair, Croatia – 2021 European Rowing Championships, Varese, Italy – photo Mauricie Summers

Women’s double sculls (W2x) – Heats

Defending European champions Romania were well in control of the first heat, taking the rate up to 42 in the final stages of the race to test their speed. Lithuania also made a strong showing, but were just unable to match the speed of the Romanians, and took the second qualifying spot. In the second heat, it was the experienced Dutch duo that led throughout the race with the new British line-up taking a strong second place.

Qualifiers: ROU, LTU, NED, GBR

Men’s double sculls (M2x) – Heats

Great Britain led the way in heat one, but Poland were less than half a length behind at the 1,500m marker. It was all to play for with only one crew going directly to the semifinal. It was a great return to form for France in the second heat, but they had to hold off a charge from Switzerland. Russia led the third head from the start but faced serious competition from Italy in the first quarter of the race, and then Ireland in the closing stages of the race. In the fourth heat, the defending European Champions from the Netherlands were the ones to watch. The Dutch extended their lead to half a length of clear water by the third quarter of the race, taking their rate down in the closing stages when they had a comfortable lead.

Semifinal A/B Qualifiers: GBR, FRA, RUS, NED

Lightweight women’s single sculls (LW1x) – Heats

A long stroke from Alena Furman of Belarus kept her in the lead throughout the first heat with Romania’s Gianina-Elana Beleaga maintaining contact and taking the second qualifying place. In the second heat, Lydia Heaphy of Ireland led from the start but in the final 500m, France’s Claire Bove put on a challenge. The Irish sculler managed to hold on to the lead with France taking the second qualifying place.

Qualifiers: BLR, ROU, IRL, FRA

Lightweight men’s single sculls (LM1x) – Heats

After a short delay due to ducks on the course in the start area, heat 1 got underway with Peter Galambos of Hungary and Dinis Costa of Portugal looking to be the early movers. In the second half of the race, a great battle developed including local favourite Gabriel Soares from Italy. Galambos managed to hold off the threat to cross the line first with Soares taking the second qualifying place. Joachim Agne, who we are used to seeing in crew boats, made a strong impression in the second heat. Ireland’s Gary O’Donovan worked his way through the pack, having been in fourth place at 500m, to take the second qualifying place.

Qualifiers: HUN, ITA, GER, IRL

Women’s four (W4-) Heats

Defending European Champions, the Netherlands, took the early lead but came under pressure from the new British line-up. The experienced Dutch crew had half a length lead at 1,000m and looked ready to hold off any charge from the Brits who continued to attack all the way to the finish. In the second heat, Russia had the fastest start, but it was then the 2020 Bronze medallists Ireland who moved into the all-important first position at 1,000m. In the third quarter, Ukraine started to make a move but the impressive Irish crew continued to lay down the power and held on to the lead.

Qualifiers: NED, IRL

Men’s four (M4-) Heats

The 2020 European Champions from the Netherlands made a strong showing in the first heat, taking clear water by the halfway marker. A new line-up from Germany held second place for the first three quarters of the race with Ukraine in third, but everything changed in the final stages of the race with Ukraine dropping right back and Lithuania taking advantage to move into second place and Belarus pipping Germany to the line for the third qualifying place. The conditions changed slightly for the second heat with an increased breeze. Great Britain had a convincing lead with defending World Champions Poland in second, and Russia just beating Croatia across the line. In the third heat, Romania were first to the 500m marker, but Italy moved into the leading spot at 1,000m. Romania responded and regained the lead at 1,500m. With four boats fighting for three spots, it was all to play for with France being the crew to miss out.

Semifinal A/B Qualifiers: NED, LTU, BLR, GBR, POL, RUS, ROU, ITA, SUI

Women’s single sculls (W1x) Heats

A strong head wind picked up just in time for the single scullers, who were likely to notice it most. It was Great Britain’s Victoria Thornley who dominated the first heat from the start, holding off Tatsiana Klimovich who has moved from crew sculling to single sculling for this Championships. Having recently won the European Olympic Qualification Regatta on the Lago di Varese, Russia’s Hanna Prakhatsen seemed to enjoy the conditions leading the second heat throughout, ahead of Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig. The third heat had just about settled by the halfway marker with Switzerland’s Jeannine Gmelin out in front with almost a length lead over Sophie Souwer of the Netherlands, who is also more used to the crew boats.

Semifinal A/B Qualifiers: GBR, BLR, UKR, RUS, AUT, GER, SUI, NED, DEN

Hanna Prakhatsen, Women’s Single Sculls, Russian Federation, Heats, 2021 World Rowing European Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta, Varese, Italy – photo Detlev Seyb / Myrowingphoto.com

Men’s single sculls (M1x) Heats

After a close start, it was Poland’s Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk who broke away from the pack in the first heat, putting himself in a strong position to hold off any charge from Croatia’s Damir Martin. 2020 Bronze medallist Kjetil Borch of Norway had an impressive race in the second heat but there was an also a strong performance from newcomer Matthew Haywood from Great Britain who had to react to a challenge from Spain’s Jordi Jofre Senciales in the second half of the race. Nikolay Pimenov of Russia took the early lead in the third heat but Denmark’s Sverri Nielsen soon reeled him in and moved to the front of the pack ahead of the 1,000m mark, holding on to the single qualifying spot all the way to the finish line. The young Greek sculler, Stefanos Ntouskos, who finished fifth at the 2020 European Championships, made a very strong showing in the fourth heat, leaving reigning World Champion Oliver Zeidler behind, and forcing him into the repechage.

Semifinal A/B Qualifiers: POL, NOR, DEN, GRE

Lightweight women’s double sculls (LW2x) Heats

The Netherlands, who are defending European Champions, led the first heat comfortably, but the surprise showing was from the Irish duo who maintained overlap with the Netherlands for the majority of the race. The Dutch continued to look relaxed and controlled the remainder of the race with Ireland holding off Germany to stay in second position. Heat two was a much closer affair with four crews fighting for three places. It was Great Britain that led the pack with Latvia being the crew that were left behind. By 1,500m, Great Britain had clear water over Poland who were being kept under pressure by Denmark. Denmark moved into second place in the final quarter of the race with Poland in a comfortable third position. The third heat also produced a fantastic battle with four crews fighting for three places. All four boats crossed the 500m within just over a second, but by the halfway marker, Russia had crept into the lead with Romania just behind. Italy kept the pressure on and were just pipped to the line by Romania.

Semifinal A/B Qualifiers: NED, IRL, GER, GBR, DEN, POL, RUS, ROU, ITA

Lightweight men’s double sculls (LM2x) Heats

In the first heat, local favourites Italy led the way on their home course, ahead of Switzerland. In the second half of the race, Great Britain started to work their way u, and they in turn had to fend off a charge from Denmark. The established duo from Germany continued to show their strength in the second heat in their characteristic black boat. A final sprint from France moved them ahead of Russia to secure one of the three qualifying spots just behind the Czech Republic. Defending World Champions Ireland had the best start in the third and final heat with two lengths of clear water by halfway and there was no let-up for the remainder of the race. Ukraine took the second qualification spot with Spain in third and Estonia missing out on direct qualification.

Semifinal A/B Qualifiers: ITA, SUI, GBR, GER, CZE, FRA, IRL, UKR, ESP

Women’s quadruple sculls (W4x) Heats

Defending European Champions the Netherlands faced serious opposition from Great Britain in the first heat, with the British quad taking the lead at the hallway marker. It was still all to play for in the middle stages of the race, but by the final quarter of the race, the British really started to move away, and the Dutch were struggling to match the boat speed. In heat two, the German crew looked really solid with a length and a half of clear water ahead of Poland at 1,000m. Germany continued to move away in the second half of the race with Ukraine keeping the pressure on Poland.

Qualifiers: GBR, GER

Women’s Quadruple Sculls, Germany, 2021 European Rowing Championships, Varese, Italy – photo Mauricie Summers

Men’s quadruple sculls (M4x) Heats

With three of the four-man crew from 2020 returning, the Italians took the lead in the first heat, ahead of Poland. The new line-up from Great Britain also had a strong debut performance, overtaking Poland in the final stages of the race. In heat two, Estonia took the early lead, but there was an exciting race for the second and third qualifying places. It was Russia just ahead of Lithuania with 500m to go but Czech Republic also started to raise the rate to try and close the gap. Defending European and World Champions from the Netherlands were out in front of the third heat at halfway but, with four crews fighting for three qualifying places, the interesting battle was happening behind. With the Dutch quad continuing to make it look easy, it was Norway and France who were holding off Austria.

Semifinal A/B Qualifiers: ITA, GBR, POL, EST, RUS, LTU, NED, NOR, FRA

The session of racing finished with race for lanes for the women’s and men’s eights, and we’re looking forward to two cracking finals on Sunday.

How to Follow: 2021 European Rowing Championships

Defending champions and newcomers show strength in 2021 European Rowing Championship heats

Partners