The First 250: October 11

BY LUKE REYNOLDS

That’s all folks.

At least for the 2021 on-water World Rowing Championships series. The 2021 European Rowing Junior Championships wrapped up the season in Munich last weekend. The 2021 World Rowing Championships were slated to take place later this month in Shanghai but were canceled in July due to Covid-related reasons.

In Munich, though, racing was fully on for youth athletes from across the European continent. It was a fitting venue for the ambitious young racers at the Olympic Regatta Course in Oberschleißheim which hosted the rowing competitions during the 1972 Olympic Games.

Romania was the big winner of the event defending its position atop the medals table for the second year in a row. The Romanians finished the regatta with five golds and one silver.

“We are super excited! And though this is not the first gold medal for me, it is very special for two reasons,” Mihaela-Cosmina Dram said.

Cosmina Dram rowed in the Romanian women’s pair.

“One is that we worked really hard and it paid off massively and the second is that this is my last junior European championship and before entering senior competition it is always great to gain some confidence by winning a gold medal!”

The Romanians also won the men’s pair, the women’s four, the women’s quadruple sculls, and the men’s eight.

The regatta was not without its own Covid-related issues though, as it was discovered through the event’s testing protocol that five members of the Ukrainian squad tested positive for the virus on Saturday. The women’s four, women’s quad, men’s quad, and men’s eight were all forced to end their participation in the event as a result.

OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION – Five team members of the Ukraine Rowing Team for the 2021 European Rowing Junior Championships have tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday. The UKR JW4+, JW4x, JM4x, and JM8+ will stop their participation in the event.
https://t.co/UDTcDhmp2t

— World Rowing (@WorldRowing) October 10, 2021

For the American crews—just kidding this was the European Championships.

Domestically, however, Americans were racing across our own continent.

According to RegattaCentral, more than 11 domestic regattas took place including the 12th Annual New England Junior & High School Regional Championship Regatta, Head of the Rock, and Head of the Housatonic, among many others.

At the New England Junior & High School Regional Championship Regatta, which had more than 380 entries and took place on Lake Quinsigamond, it was CRI that took the top prize in the women’s junior/high school varsity eight event. Wayland-Weston and Glastonbury would finish in second and third, respectively.

In the men’s event, it was Boston College High who finished with the fasted time followed by Fairfield College Prep and Bromfield Acton Boxborough.

To the south of the action on Lake Quinsigamond in Derby, Connecticut, even more racing was taking place including masters, collegiate, and juniors rowing in the Head of the Housatonic. More than 500 entries from 85 clubs were settled at this year’s event.

And, don’t forget, Row for the Cure’s #PinktheBoathouse Challenge is still taking place all month regardless of where you are.

Racing will continue with next weekend’s competitions including the Secret City Head Race in Oak Ridge, First Coast Head Race, the 2021 HOCR Global Remote Event on Friday, and many others.

Enjoy the on-the-water battling because #ErgSzn will be here soon enough.

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