Romania captures four medals, including two golds and a European record, at Varese rowing Europeans

Double gold from the pairs

The women's pair of Simona Radiș and Adriana Adam faced an early attack from rivals but responded after the 1000-metre mark with a display of strength and perfect unison. They crossed the line in 6:49.04, a new European record, more than seven seconds ahead of the Czech Republic (6:56.11) and Italy (6:57.29). It is Radiș's ninth European title and Adam's fifth. In the men's pair, Ștefan Constantin Berariu and Florin Sorin Lehaci controlled the race from start to finish, winning in 6:15.62. Lithuania took silver (6:18.29) and Italy bronze (6:18.78). Romanian crews thus opened the first finals day with back-to-back golds in the pair events.

Silver and bronze in the fours and quad

The men's four of Cosmin Iulian Pleșescu, Leontin Nuțescu, Andrei Vatamaniuc, and Ciprian Tudosă started strongly but were caught by Great Britain after 500 metres. The British crew dictated the pace, and although Germany launched a challenge in the final 500 m, Tudosă raised the stroke rate to secure silver for Romania in 5:44.13, just 0.75 seconds behind the winners (5:43.38). In the women's quadruple sculls, Mariana-Laura Dumitru, Emanuela-Ioana Ciotău, Andrada-Maria Moroșanu, and Iulia-Liliana Bălăucă burst out of the start and led at the halfway point. Switzerland, Great Britain, and Germany attacked in the second half, and Romania held on at the front until the last 250 metres before being passed by Switzerland (6:12.17) and Germany (6:12.85). The Romanian crew finished third in 6:14.40 to claim bronze.

Podium near‑misses decided by hundredths

Three other Romanian boats finished fourth, two of them missing medals by thin margins. In the men's double sculls, Andrei Lungu and Marian Florian Enache clocked 6:10.56, with the podium going to Serbia (6:04.45), Spain (6:06.22) and Croatia (6:08.35). The women's four (Manuela-Gabriela Lungu, Gabriela Tivodariu, Alexandra Ungureanu, Roxana Anghel) stopped the clock at 6:25.52, just 0.26 seconds behind Russia's bronze time; Great Britain won in 6:23.03 ahead of Germany (6:24.65). The men's quadruple sculls crew (Mihăiță Vasile Țigănescu, Florin Bogdan Horodișteanu, Andrei Sebastian Cornea, Ioan Prundeanu) placed fourth in 5:40.64, only 0.24 seconds adrift of Croatia's bronze (5:40.40); Germany took gold (5:37.21) with Poland second (5:38.24).

Women's eight record and single sculls progress

On Friday, the women's eight (W8+) comprising Simona Radiș, Adriana Adam, Amalia Chelaru, Magdalena Rusu, Maria Lehaci, Ancuța Bodnar, Geanina Juncanariu, Cristina Drugă, and coxswain Victoria Petreanu set a new European Championships record of 5:49.79 in the preliminary race. That time was over eight seconds faster than the previous record of 5:58.13 set by the Netherlands in 2025, and also quicker than the World Best Time (5:52.99) established by Romania at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics; however, world records cannot be ratified at the continental championship. Meanwhile, Mihai Chiruță qualified for the men's single sculls final after winning the second semifinal in 6:46.30. U23 world champion Bianca Ifteni finished fifth in her women's single sculls semifinal (7:32.76) and will row in Final B.

What's next in Varese

The European Rowing Championships, held from 30 July to 2 August at the Varese basin, conclude on Sunday with the finals in the men's and women's eights. Last year at the same event in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Romania collected seven medals (three gold, two silver, two bronze). The 2026 World Rowing Championships are scheduled to take place in the Netherlands later this month.