The waters of Seville boiled over on Sunday as Romania’s rowing squad delivered a performance worthy of the gods. In the Final A races of the World Cup I, four out of eight Romanian crews stormed the podium, securing one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals. It was a day defined by grit, glory, and the relentless power of the oar.

Gold, Silver, and Bronze for Romania

The crown jewel of the day belonged to former Olympic champions Simona Radiș and Ancuța Bodnar. In the women’s double sculls, they carved their names into history with a time of 07:01.05, leaving the Netherlands (07:03.40) chasing shadows in the wake of their dominance.

On the men’s side, Ştefan Berariu and Florin Lehaci powered to silver in the men’s double sculls. Clocking in at 06:29.46, they were edged out by New Zealand’s blistering 06:26.86, but their performance was nothing short of heroic.

The women’s quadruple sculls saw Emanuela Ciotău, Alexandra Ungureanu, Andrada Moroşanu, and Mariana-Laura Dumitru take bronze. They finished at 06:31.15, just behind Germany’s gold (06:30.15) and Great Britain’s silver (06:30.58). Meanwhile, the massive men’s eight-plus-one crew, featuring Cosmin Iulian Pleşescu, Fabrizio-Alexandru Scripcariu, Florin Arteni, Mugurel Semciuc, Constantin Adam, Sergiu Bejan, Andrei Mândrilă, Laurenţiu Danciu, and coxswain Irina Lucia Andreea Despa, also claimed bronze with a time of 05:35.50. The Netherlands took gold (05:33.23), with Great Britain on silver (05:34.69).

Other Romanian Results

Medals weren’t the only story. Three other Romanian crews narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth in their respective events. In the men’s quadruple sculls, Mateus-Simion Cozminciuc, Ciprian Tudosă, Andrei Vatamaniuc, and Leontin Nuţescu recorded 06:04.34, beaten by Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands. The men’s quadruple sculls crew of Mihăiţă Ţigănescu, Florin Bogdan Horodişteanu, Andrei Cornea, and Ioan Prundeanu finished fourth at 05:52.63, just behind Croatia’s bronze.

The women’s eight-plus-one crew, including Cristina Drugă, Gabriela Tivodariu, Iulica-Maria Ursu, Maria Lehaci, Iulia Bălăucă, Geanina Juncanariu, Adriana Adam, Amalia Chelaru, and Victoria Petreanu, took fourth at 06:12.20. In the women’s double sculls, Manuela-Gabriela Lungu and Andreea Petraş finished last in Final A (07:28.95), while Adriana Adam and Maria Lehaci placed fourth in Final B.

In Final B, Stejara Olariu and Ioana Mădălina Cornea took third in the women’s double sculls. Mihai Chiruţă and Bianca-Camelia Ifteni both finished fifth in their respective single scull Final B races.

In the overall medal table, Germany led with four golds, followed by the Netherlands, Great Britain, Hong Kong, and Romania in fifth place with one gold, one silver, and two bronzes.