Olympic and Paralympic qualification opportunity turns to Europe

The chance to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games continues as athletes prepare to go to Varese, Italy for the 2021 World Rowing European Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta (EOPQR).

Entries have now closed and the list sees 67 athletes from 22 European nations taking part in the Varese regatta which goes from 5-7 April 2021.

There are six boat classes open to qualification and they include the lightweight men’s and women’s double sculls, men’s and women’s single sculls and the para PR1 men’s and women’s single sculls.

The athletes range from the young lightweight men’s double sculls of Mher and Paylak Mirzoyan from Armenia through to the very experienced Pedro Fraga of Portugal who has been racing internationally for nearly two decades and already competed at two Olympic Games. Fraga, 38, will race in the lightweight men’s double sculls with partner Alfonso Costa.

The women’s single sculls has 11 countries entered with two second-generation rowers up against each other. Greta Jaanson of Estonia is the daughter of Olympic medallist Jueri Jaanson and Finland’s Eeva Karppinen is the daughter of Pertti Karppinen who is one of only two rowers every to win gold three times at the Olympic Games in the men’s single sculls.

There are 16 countries competing in the men’s single sculls and featured in the line up is Belgium’s Ward Lemmelijn. This is the first time competing internationally for Lemmelijn who comes to rowing from success as an indoor rower. He recently won the 2000m at the 2021 World Rowing Indoor Championships. From Israel, Dani Fridman is aiming for his first Olympic Games after trying to qualify in 2012 and 2016. Greece’s Stefanos Ntouskos is one of the top contenders to qualify. Ntouskos raced to fifth at last year’s European Rowing Championships and at the 2019 World Rowing Championships he finished just outside of qualifying for the Olympics when he was eleventh.

The last time these rowers got to try qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics was the 2019 World Rowing Championships. After the European Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta there is one more chance to qualify – the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta and Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta.

For entries and more information, here.