"VAN" (Sports Desk - 30.05.2025) :: The 2025 international Rowing season got underway on Thursday with the heats of the 2025 European Rowing Championships at the regatta course in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
The conditions were ideal for fast times, with a brisk tailwind producing 10 European Championship best times in Olympic events and two in the para-rowing events. The regatta is also the first to use the new progression system, which sees the top two crews in each heat progressing to the next round, and the rest of the places filled according to time ranking.
The German men’s eight were just 0.11 seconds off their own world best time as they won their heat in Plovdiv, setting a European Championship best time of 5:18.79.
Also notable was Briton Lauren Henry’s time of 7:09.76 in heat 3 of the women’s single sculls – one of the fastest times in history. Henry came close to 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.
Germany’s newly formed PR3 mixed double sculls crew of Kathrin Marchand and Valentin Luz smashed through the previous European Championship best time of 7:26.75, setting a standard of 7:01.35 and beating Paralympic silver medallists Great Britain in their preliminary race.
Also in the para-rowing events, reigning Paralympic champion in the PR1 men’s single sculls, Benjamin Pritchard (GBR) became the first European sculler to break the 8:50 mark with a best time of 8:47.88, lowering the previous marker by eight seconds.
The Dutch women’s four set a European Championship best time in the preliminary race for that event, with all four rowers then doubling up into the women’s eight to win their heat and establish a new best time in that event too.
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