“They have shown how valuable they are”

Romanian rowers performed at the end of May in their first official competition of the year, in the first stage of the World Cup, the one in Seville. They returned from there with awards, one gold, one silver and two bronze, occupying the 5th place in the medal ranking.

The golden pair Ancuta Bodnar-Simona Radiș regrouped and returned to their all-time event, the double sculls. It was a success, with the two multiple Olympic, world and European champions prevailing in the final contested on the grounds of La Cartuja over boats from the Netherlands and Ireland.

In men's doubles, Stefan Berariu and Florin Lehaci they won the silver medal behind New Zealand, but ahead of 3rd place Lithuania. Bronze honors are back women's 4 oar boats and the male of 8 plus 1 frames. Other tricolor boats were in the finals.

Returning in the same boat for Radiș and Bodnar seems a very good thing to the president of FR Canotaj, Elisabeta Lipa.

“I am very happy for Ancuța and Simona that they are back in this formula, although we can always expect that they will no longer be in this formula and will be in another,” said the five-time Olympic champion during the event in Snagov where a new partnership of FR Canotaj, with Super Foundation, was announced.

“The important thing is that at the present time they are together again, they proved that they are, if there was any need to prove, very valuable because it is not easy to go from the frames to the oars, to adjust, even if you know your teammate, the boat doesn't know you. It is certain that they have potential, it is certain that there is a lot of work and what is most gratifying is that anytime, at any time they are up there”, she added.

Lipa emphasized that the girls were still together, they remained roommates and they were in training next to each other because they both doubled last year.

“They wanted considering that Magda had a medical problem, and had to have a surgical intervention, she could not return to the effort because she had a prohibition from the doctor, and then they said: “Let's come back!”, revealed the president.

“The first competition has ended and fortunately it ended well. It was a competition that we all looked forward to with interest and anticipation, especially the athletes, because they wanted to measure themselves against their opponents,” the coordinating coach said Dorin Alupa.

“We have seen many changes internationally, and we have made some changes. All in all, the competition was a success. We have seen where we can improve and certainly in the perspective of participating in the European and World Championships we will also make some changes in the training plan, but maybe also in the crew formulas”, he added.

Dorin Alupei, the coordinating coach of the national rowing team Photo: FR Canotaj

Then he commented on the reunion of Simona and Ancuța, saying that it was their initiative, which the technical body supported. “That gave them an impetus, a boost of energy and confidence for the next competitions”. Alupei believes the break last year, when they competed in different boats, was welcome. “Now they are back with confidence in their trial,” he pointed out.

The current batch contains both seasoned athletes and newly co-opted youngsters from the youth ranks. “Most of the time the mix works because it's youth and enthusiasm with the experienced. If we know how to put them together, a very good thing can come out,” he said.

Until European Championships in Varesethe competition in Seville will remain the only one for the Romanian team, which will not participate in the other stages of the World Cup, Plovdiv and Lucerne. “Unfortunately, we don't go anymore, because we can turn our plan upside down”, Dorin explained to Alupe.

He also assured that the athletes who had medical problems, Magdalena Rusu – a nose job, Marian Enache – in ball, they recently resumed their training in order to integrate as quickly as possible into the common program.