Racing is underway at the 2021 World Rowing European Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta

PR1 Women’s single sculls (PR1W1x)

The morning session got underway with the two para rowing boat classes. The para women’s single sculls had just two competitors, Ebba Einarsson of Sweden and Liudmila Vauchok of Belarus. Vauchok is the more experienced of the two and managed to get off the start quickly, rating 40 strokes per minute. Einarsson did her best to stay in contact with Vauchok, but Vauchok pressed on. She led from start to finish.

A-final qualifiers: BLR, SWE

PR1 Men’s single sculls (PR1M1x)

With four athletes competing, this preliminary race for lanes was a chance for the athletes to assess their positions before the A-final. Spain’s Javier Reja Munoz took the early lead, with a calm, low rate of striking. The other three athletes fell into a line behind him, with Belarus’ Maksim Miatlou making the best of it. Positions remained unchanged through the finish line.

A-final qualifiers: ESP, BLR, HUN, LTU

Women’s single sculls (W1x)

Heat 1 of the women’s single sculls saw the Serbian sculler get out to a quick start, but everyone was watching what the talented Greek sculler Anneta Kyridou would do. Through the middle of the race, Kyridou turned on the power. She overtook Jovana Arsic of Serbia to claim the one spot directly into the A-final.

In the second heat, there was no doubt about the winner. Russia’s Hanna Prakhatsen flew off the start and established her lead early on. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Prakhatsen continued to move away from the field. Crossing the finish line she had several boat lengths open water back to the nearest competitor, Diana Dymchenko of Ukraine.

A-final qualifiers: GRE, RUS

Men’s single sculls (M1x)

With three heats in the men’s single sculls, athletes were looking to land in the top three spots for a direct path to the A/B Semifinals. In the first heat the three athletes in the middle lanes took an early lead. But it was a surprising race from Hungary’s Bendeguz Petervari-Molnar. He finished 23^rd at the 2020 European Rowing Championships, but looked to have had a good winter training session. Petervari-Molnar fended off charges from the more experienced Robert Ven of Finland and Anders Backeus of Sweden. Through the line, these three had open water ahead of Estonia and Moldova.

In heat two it was the young talent Stefanous Ntouskos from Greece who made the best of it. Ntouskos established his lead early in the race and was able to look back on the rest of the field. Behind him there was a nice tussle between Austria, Russia and Cyprus for the final two places into the A/B Semifinals, with Belgium’s indoor star Ward Lemmelijn just off the pace. Through the final strokes of the race, Ntouskos maintained open water, ahead of Russia and Austria.

All eyes were on the experienced Dani Fridman of Israel in heat three, but it was Serbia’s Aleksander Filipovic who led off the start. Fridman slid into the second position, with Onat Kazakli from Turkey in third. Through the middle of the race, Fridman made is move and overtook Filipovic. Into the final 500 meters, Kazakli took his rate up and pushed past Filipovic. Filipovic managed to hold on to the third position and qualify direct for the A/B Semifinal.

A/B Semifinal qualifiers: HUN, SWE, FIN, GRE, RUS, AUT, ISR, TUR, SRB

Lightweight women’s double sculls (LW2x)

Due to the withdrawal of Ukraine in this boatclass, the two heats were reduced to one preliminary race for lanes. It gave crews the opportunity to measure their speed and tactics against one another. It was perhaps no surprise to see the young Greek crew move into the lead. But Russia stayed hot on their tails and the two crews moved as one down the course. Coming into the final stages, Austria made a push to secure the third position, with Latvia, Turkey and Hungary trailing.

A-final qualifiers: GRE, RUS, AUT, LAT, TUR, HUN

Lightweight men’s double sculls (LM2x)

It was a fight between experience and youth in the lightweight men’s double sculls. Lining up in heat one was Pedro Fraga from Portugal, together with partner Afonso Costa. Fraga is one of the most experienced rowers competing here in Varese. Despite a slow start, the Portugese double made their move in the middle thousand and overtook the Austrians. With only two spots directly into the A-final, the race was tight. Portugal managed to hold their lead ahead of Austria, who in turn held off Estonia to claim the second direct spot to the A-final.

In the last race of the morning session, three crews jumped out at the start, Ukraine, Greece and Turkey. Through the middle of the race, Greece and Ukraine established themselves as the front of the pack, but which one would cross the line first? Ukraine put in a huge sprint to take the lead ahead of Greece, who held off a charging Turkey to cement their spot in the A-final.

A-final qualifiers: POR, AUT, UKR, GRE