RRI Sports Club– The European Rowing Championships approach
Romanian athletes are preparing for the rowing championship in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Florin Orban, 28.05.2025, 13:45
The European Rowing Championships are taking place this week in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Romania is taking part in the competition as one of the countries with the highest medal count at the Paris Olympic Games. With five medals, two of which were gold and three silver, the Romanian athletes came in third place in the rankings. Only the Netherlands were better, with eight medals, four of which were gold, followed by Great Britain, also with eight medals, but only with three Olympic titles.
At the previous continental championships, hosted last year by Szeged, Hungary, Romania was second only to Great Britain, which dominated the competition, winning eight of the 22 events. The Romanian rowers walked home with four European titles. In the men’s double sculls, Andrei Cornea and Marian Enache won gold, later becoming Olympic champions. In the women’s double sculls, the gold medals were won by Gianina van Groningen and Ionela Cozmiuc, in the double sculls, by Ioana Vrînceanu and Roxana Anghel, as well as by Romania’s 8+1 crew. The crew was made up of Maria-Magdalena Rusu, Roxana Anghel, Adriana Adam, Maria Tivodariu. Mădălina Bereș, Amalia Bereș, Ioana Vrînceanu, Simona Radiș and Victoria-Ștefania Petreanu.
The Olympic champion of 2021 in Tokyo, then runner-up in 2024 in Paris, alongside Ancuța Bodnar, in the double-scull event, Simona Radiș is one of the athletes with the highest number of medals won representing Romania in Plovdiv. She spoke to our colleagues from Radio România Actualități:
“It will be a different European Championship. Being the first year after the Olympic Games, I wanted some mental relaxation, both I and Ancuța Bodnar, my double sculls colleague, and that’s when we made the decision to compete in other teams. I, for one, will compete in the women’s double sculls this time, and later I will probably also compete in the women’s 8+1 race”. (VP)