"VAN" (Sports Desk - 27.04.2024) :: The 2024 European Rowing Championships, and the World Rowing European Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta, are being held at the Szeged National Canoeing and Rowing Olympic Centre from 25 to 28 April.
After two days of heats and repechages, European Rowing Championships medals will be awarded and places booked for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games over the coming two days in Szeged, Hungary.
Finals begin on Saturday with 10 European champions set to be crowned. A further 12 finals take place on Sunday. Saturday also features semifinals in the men’s pair, single sculls and double sculls, ahead of finals in those events the following day.
Three months out from the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Rowing Regatta, the European Rowing Championships have already produced plenty of excitement. Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis in the Romanian women’s double sculls crew had come to Szeged unbeaten since the 2019 World Rowing Championships, but their streak was snapped on Thursday by Thea Helseth and Inger Kavlie of Norway in their first race together. Bodnar and Radis made it safely through the repechage on Friday to keep their European defence alive.
Paralympic Champion in the PR1 women’s single sculls, Birgit Skarstein (Norway) was also beaten for the first time in over 30 races on Thursday, coming in third in the event’s preliminary race, which was won by Israeli Moran Samuel. Skarstein, Samuel, and the rest of the field race again for the medals on Saturday.
In contrast, British dominance in the PR3 mixed coxed four continues, as they cruised to victory in their preliminary race, maintaining a streak that now goes back 14 years.
In the European Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta, heats and repechages determined the boats who will race for the tickets to Paris on Saturday and Sunday. There are three spots available in both the men’s and women’s single sculls, two in the lightweight men’s and women’s double sculls, and one for the PR1 men’s and women’s single sculls. The early rounds produced few surprises, but close racing promises exciting finals in all six events over the weekend.
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