Romania wins six gold medals on final day of European Rowing Championships in Varese

Romania turned the final day of the 2026 European Rowing Championships in Varese into a near clean sweep, winning all four finals it contested on Sunday to finish with six gold medals from the regatta. The haul, added to two golds from Saturday and one silver and one bronze, gave the Romanian team eight podium finishes and underlined its strength across the sweep and sculling disciplines.

Saturday's foundation

The gold rush began on Saturday when Simona Radiș and Adriana Adam won the women's pair, and Ștefan Berariu and Florin Lehaci took the men's pair. Those victories were accompanied by a silver and a bronze, though the specific events for those medals were not detailed in the immediate post-race reports.

Men's eight makes history

Sunday's programme opened with the men's eight, where Romania's crew of Claudiu Neamțu, Mateus-Simion Cozminciuc, Mugurel Vasile Semciuc, Andrei Mândrilă, Constantin Adam, Sergiu Vasile Bejan, Florin Arteni, Fabrizio-Alexandru Scripcariu and coxswain Rucsandra-Ioana Bucșa clocked 5:25.95. They pulled away from Germany in the closing stages to win by nearly three seconds, with Italy third in 5:31.74. It was Romania's first European title in the men's eight.

Women's eight dominates from the start

Minutes later, the women's eight delivered an even more commanding performance. Cristina Drugă, Geanina Dumitrița Juncănariu, Ancuța Bodnar, Maria Lehaci, Maria Magdalena Rusu, Amalia Chelaru, Adriana Adam, Simona Radiș and coxswain Victoria Ștefania Petreanu led from the first stroke and crossed the line in 5:56.14. Great Britain took silver in 6:01.57 and Italy bronze in 6:03.65.

Mixed events complete the sweep

The mixed double sculls, appearing on the European Championships programme for the first time, went to Marian Enache and Iulia Bălăucă. They beat Germany with a clear-water margin. The mixed eight then closed the day: Magdalena Rusu, Maria Lehaci, Ancuța Bodnar, Florin Lehaci, Andrei Vatamaniuc, Leontin Nuțescu, Ștefan Berariu, Amalia Chelaru and coxswain Victoria Petreanu won decisively, again ahead of Germany.

Other Romanian results

In the men's single sculls, Mihai Chiruță finished fourth after a strong late charge. Bianca Ifteni placed second in the women's single sculls Final B in 8:13.79, behind Denmark's Frida Sanggaard Nielsen (8:07.64), giving her eighth place overall. Para rower Cristian Alexandru was fifth in his Final B.

Heat delay and final tally

Racing on Sunday was pushed back by several hours because of high temperatures at the Varese course. Once underway, Romania's crews showed no sign of discomfort. The final count of six golds, one silver and one bronze made the 2026 edition the country's most successful European Championships in recent memory.