History of Romanian rowing dates from the nineteenth century. In
1864, when a group of young students from Timisoara in Western Romania,
returned from abroad, they had completed their studies and founded
for pleasure the society of little traditional boats, Regatta. Here
they practiced rowing as a pastime. In the beginning, the difficulties
were many and the rudimentary boats that they had were stored in
a wooden shed on the bank of the Bega channel. Between 1910 and
1912, a pavilion was constructed that still hosts the local rowing
clubs. In 1879, the Gymnastics Society in Arad was founded and in
1890, the activity of the club expanded to include a rowing section
marking the first official rowing club in Romania. In the same year,
another club in Arad, Muresul Club, opened its doors to the rowing
enthusiasts. World War I interrupted the rowing activity in Romania
for several years and resumed again in 1918 as one of the most popular
sports among young people.
The first National Rowing Championship was organized by the Muresul Club in 1923 and took place in Arad. The event triggered a national phenomenon and new clubs were created to accommodate the large number of rowing fans. In 1926, one of these clubs, the Hellas Sport Club was the first to welcome women to rowing. In 1925, the Commission for Nautical Sports was founded as a member of the Sport Societies of Romania and in 1927 officially joined FISA. In 1931, the Commission for Nautical Sports was renamed and relocated to Bucharest. The popularization of rowing continued and more then twenty new clubs opened during the period of 1928-1938.
During the World War II, rowing sojourned but quickly resumed in 1945 with the revival of the annual national championships. In 1950, specialized athletic schools started to appear and scouts began nationwide searches for athletic young pupils to enroll in elite development programs. The first Romanian participation in an official international competition was in 1932 at the European Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Romania took part in the Olympic Games for first time in Helsinki-1952 with it's men's eight. The first gold medal was won at the European Championships in Gand-1955 in the men's quadruple sculls with the crew: Stefan Pongracz, Anton Senceac, Stefan Somogyi and Rady Nicolae. In 1962, at the European Championships in Grunay, the four with coxswain comprised of Ana Tamao, Emilia Rigard, Florica Ghiuzelea, Lia Bulugioiu and Stefania Borisov were the first to win a women's gold medal. The first Olympic gold medal was won at the Moscow Games in 1980 and since then the Romanian team has not missed an Olympic Games without a winning a medal. Today, the Romanian team is established as one of the leading powers in the rowing world with strong traditions in the women's events.
DID YOU KNOW?
Romania has won 32 Olympic medals-15 gold, 10 silver and 7 bronze-plus 97 medals from World Championships-27 gold, 32 Silver and 28 bronze-making it one of the leading powers in today's rowing world.
PERSONALITIES
Toma Valer and Petre Iosub : The first Romanian men's crew to win Olympic gold at the 1984 games.
Doina Ignat : Romania's modern rowing hero, a world and Olympic champion.
Elizabeta Lipa : The legendary Romanian rower declared "the best female rower of all time" and winner of four gold, two silver and one bronze Olympic medals.
Sanda Toma : An invincible female rower in all competitions during the period of 1979-1981, including gold at the 1980 Olympic Games. She raised to and then retired in full glory.
Fed. Romana de Canotaj
Str. Maior Coravu 34-36
Sector 2
Bucaresti, Romania
Tel: +40 21 324 5852
Fax: +40 21 324 5800
Email: romanianrowing@yahoo.com www.frcanotaj.ro
