RRI Sports Club – Canoeing

A roundup of Romania's performance at the World Rowing Championships in Italy.

Florin Orban, 26.08.2015, 12:57

Romania obtained two important results at the World Rowing Championships that came to a close in Milan on Sunday. The biggest achievement came from the four-skull crew, which won the 1,000-m race. Made up of Leonid Carp, Petre Condrat, Iosif Chirila and Stefan Andrei Strat, the Romanian crew dominated the race ever since the start. The silver went to Ukraine while Hungary grabbed bronze.

Additionally, the Romanian kayak-four has qualified directly to the Olympic Games to be held next year after finishing the 1,000-m race. Made up of Traian Neagu, Catalin Turceag, Daniel Burciu and Petrus Gavrila, the team finished the qualifying heat in the 7th place. The first 10 teams qualified to the Rio Olympics.

Unfortunately, the four-skull 1,000-m race is not an Olympic event, and thus our Romanian crew will not be able to compete in Rio.

Other Romanian rowers enrolled in the World Championships had sub-par performances. The defending world champions in the double-canoe 1,000-m race, Liviu Alexandru Dumitrescu and Victor Mihalachi finished the semi-final in the 4th place, missing the opportunity to compete in the finals. Dumitrescu and Mihalachi however won the B final, which only secured them the 10th place in the final standings. That was not enough to allow them to qualify to the Rio Olympics, as only the first six crews will be allowed to compete.

There is only one more spot left free in the 1,000-m double-canoe race, reserved especially for European countries. The European Championships next year will be the last chance to get this ticket to Rio. The competition will however be fierce, as powerful countries, such as Germany, are yet to secure qualification.