Day one in Plovdiv at the 2025 European Rowing Championships

European best times fell on the first day of racing at the 2025 European Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The course is known as a fast one, and so it proved, as windy conditions added extra oomph. Athletes also dealt with the new progression system which eliminates repechages, instead the top two crews in each heat earn direct qualification to the next round, and the remaining places go to the crews with the next fastest times.

PR1 Singles

The PR1 men’s singles were the first on the water. Welshman Benjamin Pritchard started 2025 how he finished 2024, by winning. “I still feel like I’m in winter training,” said Pritchard who admitted he was nervous before arriving. “I’m juggling trying to be an athlete, trying to do some work in the city and trying to be a dad… [But] it’s worth it. I love what I do, I love being on the water and I love rowing.” The Paralympic champion set a new European best time of 8:47.88, beating the previous one (8:55.08) set by Italy’s Giacomo Perini in Bled in 2023.

Perini came second in the second heat behind the two time Paralympic champion Roman Polianskyi (UKR).

Ukraine’s Anna Sheremet laid down a statement win in her preliminary race. A consistent finalist and semi-regular medallist for years, Sheremet came closest to European gold in 2020. Of the four PR1 women’s single scullers in Plovdiv, she is the only one to have raced in last year’s European championships, where she finished fifth. With Paralympic champion Moran Samuel, who was fourth last year, and the other medallists out of the equation this could be the Ukrainian’s year.

PR3 Mixed Doubles

The PR3 mixed doubles were the last para athletes to race. Great Britain’s Paralympic silver medallists Annabel Caddick and Sam Murray finished second in the preliminary race, almost nine seconds behind Germany.

Valentin Luz and Kathrin Marchland (GER), who came fourth in the PR3 mixed coxed fours in Paris, blazed to a new European best time (7:01.35) cutting 25 seconds off the previous one held by France. “There’s still a lot of potential to improve and get faster,” said bowman Luz.

It’s an impressive international sculling debut for London and Rio Olympian Marchland. The stroke survivor made her Paralympic debut in Paris, and hopes to represent Germany in cross-country skiing at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.

Lightweight Singles

There were three lightweight singles races: two heats for the men and a preliminary race for the women. Austrian Olympian Lara Tiefenthaler sculled to victory in the preliminary race ahead of Ireland’s Isobel Clements, who secured second place in her international debut.

Ireland’s other lightweight sculler, Jacob McCarthy, also took second place; this time in the men’s first heat behind Germany’s Fabio Kres. The second heat was won by Under 23 European lightweight men’s single sculls champion Halil Kaan Koroglu (TUR).

Pairs

Romanian new women’s pair got off to a good start, comfortably clocking the quickest time of the two heats and securing a direct spot into the A Final. Tokyo and Paris Olympic champion Simona Radis has ditched the double to partner Maria Magdalena Rusu. Rusu finished fourth in the women’s four in Paris and won gold with Radis in the women’s eight.

Italy won the second heat well ahead of Czechia in second place.

On the men’s side Romanian Olympians Florin Arteni and Florin Lehaci set a new European best time (6:17.90) which was broken in the very next heat by Spain’s Jaime Canalejo and Javier Garcia (6:16.21), who were pushed by Switzerland.

Jakub Podrazil and Dalibor Nedela of Czechia won the first heat ahead of Lithuania’s Stankunas twins.

Doubles

The new Dutch double of Roos de Jong and Tessa Dullemans won the first heat of the women’s doubles. The Olympic women’s quad silver medallists had a quick start and held their lead through to the finish, the Romanians, a few seconds behind, finished in second place.

It was a nervous wait for Spain and Great Britain, who placed third and fourth in heat one but whose times proved fast enough to make it into the A Final. “The new progression system definitely added some excitement,” said Vwairé Obukohwo (GBR). “I remember Freya shouting ‘time!’ in the last few hundred, so we pushed it and by some miracle, we were on the right side of it today.”

The second heat was dominated by Greece and Ireland, while the unlucky Lithuanians slowed in the second half. There was a strong ex-lightweight contingent. Ireland’s strokewoman, Margaret Cremen, won a European silver medal in the lightweight women’s single last year, and Zoi Fitsiou and Dimitra Kontou (GRE) are lightweight women’s double sculls Olympic bronze medallists.

Romania were the quickest of the four men’s doubles heats and set a new European best time. The Olympic champions Marian Florian Enache and Andrei Sebastian Cornea built a comfortable lead over the Switzerland’s Kai Schaetzle and Raphael Ahumada, to finish in a time of 6:05.73. The first heat was won by Serbia’s Martin Mackovic and Nikolaj Pimenov.

Niels Torre and Gabriel Soares (ITA) distanced Hugo Boucheron and Victor Marcelot (FRA) in the third heat. The high-rating Italians, who’ve made the jump to openweight, extended their lead in the third quarter.

Miroslaw Zietarski and Mateusz Biskup (POL) won the last men’s doubles heat ahead of Ireland’s world and Olympic lightweight men’s double sculls champion Fintan McCarthy, and his new partner, Konan Pazzaia.

Great Britain posted the 12^th fastest time and progress to the semifinal. “It was a bit of a long wait to find out if we’d made it through,” said stroke Tobias Schroder. “I guess that adds to the excitement, but the wait for us was quite a nervy feeling. We’re pleased that we’ve got the job done.”

2025 European Rowing Championships

Fours

Czechia’s late withdrawal meant the remaining six women’s fours only raced a preliminary race. It was won by the Netherlands, two seconds clear of Romania, both duking it out as the rest of the field seemingly saved their energies for Saturday’s final. The prize for the determined Dutch? A new European best time of 6:21.94.

On the men’s side the Dutch were in another fierce battle – this time with France. Less than a second split the two leaders in the first half, with France getting a small edge in the third quarter, only for the Netherlands to fight back and win.

The second heat of the men’s fours was just as compelling, and not only because the Sinkovics have partnered the Loncarics to make a new brotherly Croat crew. The Croatians held a slender lead in the first half but were closely marked by Romania, who took the lead in the second half. A stroke-for-stroke battle ensued which ended with the Romanian quartet setting a new European best time of 5:44.06. The previous record had stood for 11 years.

Quads

The following a lunch break the women’s quads restarted the racing. The first heat was a barnstormer. Great Britain’s women’s quad – which has Cameron Nyland and Sarah McKay join forces with Olympic champion Lola Anderson and Olympic medallist Rebecca Wilde – led early, but they were unable to shake the French, who tracked them one lane over. Less than a second separated the crews, both blending of Olympian and up-and-coming talent. In the third 500m France burst through for a length’s lead, and then closed out the race with a new European best time of 6:11.44.

Heat two was won by the Dutch ahead of the Ukrainians.

The last race of the three men’s quads heats produced the quickest winning, and slowest losing, times. Sadly the Bulgarians, who came last in heat three, are now eliminated from the competition. Winners Italy came through a fast starting Polish quad late in the race.

The first heat saw Great Britain secure a direct spot into the men’s quad semifinals, holding off the fast-charging Spaniards, who overhauled Germany in the final 500m. Olympic men’s single bronze medallist Simon van Dorp joined the newlook Dutch quad, who stormed the second heat, with Croatia in tow. Ireland, who are are the first senior quad to compete at a Europeans, also progress to the semifinals.

Singles

Fiona Murtagh (IRL), who has switched from sweep to sculling, made a very positive start to her 2025 season. The Tokyo women’s four bronze medallist, who was disappointed to finish eighth in the women’s pair in Paris, won the first of the three women’s single sculls heats. She beat the fast-starting German, Alexandra Foester, who finished in fourth place behind Tatsiana Klimovich (AIN2) and Kira Iuvchenko (AIN1).

The women’s single sculls European best time was lowered three times in quick succession. Murtagh of Ireland clocked 7:21.15 to take the best time away from fellow Irishwoman Sanita Puspure. The next heat was quicker still: won by Greece’s Evangelia Anastasiadou, who beat the Lithuanian Olympic bronze medallist Viktorija Senkute, in a time of 7:20.50. Then Great Britain’s Olympic women’s quad gold medallist Lauren Henry hammered it down in the third heat to 7:09.76.

Henry’s time gives her the British record. It is one of the fastest in history: only two seconds shy of the world best time of 7:07.71 set by Bulgarian Rumanya Neykova at the 2002 World Rowing Championships, which is the longest standing rowing record for events still being contested.

The men’s single sculls is largest event at this year’s championships. There were four heats but none quicker than the first, which was won by the Olympic silver medallist Yaheni Zalaty (AIN), who set a new European best time of 6:38.51.

The second heat was won by Germany’s Marc Weber. (Ollie Zeidler is taking time off to study for an MBA.) Weber beat Belgium’s Tim Brys, the former lightweight who placed fourth in Paris in this event. Lithuania’s Giedrius Bieliauskas, who won a European bronze medal last year and placed tenth in Paris, won the third heat. And the final heat went to Tokyo Olympic champion Stefanos Ntouskos.

Eights

The eights closed out the day’s racing, and as the wind strengthened there was yet more European best times set.

Romania shaved 0.06 seconds from their own previously held European best time, only for the Dutchwomen to nick another second in the next heat (5:58.13). The German men beat the British by a length and a quarter and set a new European best time of 05:18.79 (a mere 0.11 seconds off their own world best time), which wasn’t bettered by the Dutch in heat two, when they beat Italy and Poland.

Of the seven crews in each of the men’s and women’s eights, it was the Ukrainians who found themselves eliminated from both events.

2025 European Rowing Championships

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