Makedonas

Not a good day for the Greeks Our LM2X and M2- finished 6th in their semifinals which was more or less expected. I don't think either has a chance at the Final Qualification regatta but it would be a good experience for them. Both teams are very young and should be aiming for Paris 2024. Our LW2X came 5th in their semifinal, very disappointing but also they were in a very tough semi. The other one was weaker. I think tomorrow's Final B will be a big test for them. If they can finish 1st or 2nd then I believe they still have a chance to make it to Tokyo. The problem is Fitsiou. If Nikolaidou can get healthy within the next month (I don't know what her current condition is, but she said in a few weeks ago that she is still injured but hoping to make it to Tokyo), then Anastasiadou/Nikolaidou could be an amazing team. Anneta Kyridou was 4th in W1X and didn't make it to Final A. Pretty disappointing but I'm not surprised. She has had a very long week. Dominated her heat at the European Qualifying regatta, then fell into the water in the final, then had to come back in less than 24 hours to compete in an extremely difficult heat, then had to race again on the same day in the repechage where she finished 1st. She probably could've won a medal here again if she didn't compete at the European Qualifying regatta too. She's clearly tired both physically and mentally. Lastly, Ntouskos was 3rd in his semi in M1X which is good but he is starting to look tired. It's understandable though. He raced on Monday, then twice on Thursday, then again on Friday and again on Saturday and now will race in Sunday's Final A. I hope he can sneak a medal but I fear that fatigue will play a role. He seems to be in great shape otherwise. Also we still have our women's pair in the final, they won bronze last year as 19 year olds. I hope they can win another medal this year. I think they have a good chance!

They only have a live audio feed so far. Worldrowing could do such a better job promoting their sport. They had streams for the European U23 and Junior Championships last year which were watched by thousands of people on Youtube. They should do the same for this too.

And Ntouskos said last year that he would probably stop rowing after Tokyo. He just turned 24 so I hope he reconsiders this decision. Maybe a good result at the European Championships this week and the Olympics later this year will help him attract sponsors or something. He should at least be able to continue to Paris 2024 where he will be 27 and probably have a very good chance for a medal. Bourmpou and the Kyridou sisters will be going to universities in the United States after the Olympics so they will probably disappear from the national team for a few years like Asoumanaki did (and other big talents like Vontzou, Pergouli, Angelopoulou, Georgoudi, Agioti etc). Probably some of the other young ones like Anastasiadou and Fragkou will follow too...

Worth noting that in men's rowing we had 8 guys in London 2012 and 8 also in Rio 2016. It looks like we will only have one in Tokyo... Very disappointing, but not surprising. Our federation is a mess. Papachristos retired after finishing 4th in London, he was just 23. So did the Gkountoulas twins who finished 9th and were 27 years old, though I guess that isn't too young (or old) for rowing. Then after Rio we saw more retirements. Angelopoulos finished 8th as a 24 year old. Petrou finished 6th as a 20 year old. Giannaros, who finished 6th in Rio as a 24 year old, last competed in 2018 at age 26. Magdanis was 8th in London and 6th in Rio, last competed in 2017 as a 26 year old. We have a big problem in rowing and it needs to be addressed. We lost many talents. Others who retired (Christou, Konsolas, Tsilis, Tziallas) were at least in their late 20s or early 30s which is more acceptable. And even just a few years ago we had good young guys like Nikolaidis and Stergiakas who I thought for sure would be in Tokyo. Now they don't compete anymore either! And let's not forget on the women's side. Nikolaidou was 23 and Asoumanaki was 19 when they finished 4th in W2X in Rio 2016. It looks like neither will be in Tokyo! Giazitzidou was 22 and Tsiavou 26 when they stopped rowing after winning bronze in London 2012. Kalampoka won three gold medals at the World U23 Championships plus another silver and stopped rowing at age 22. There are many more examples of situations like this. It's very sad. We've lost so much talent in rowing and it's crazy that we only have 3 athletes going to Tokyo. I still think we will qualify one or two more boats (W1X and LW2X) but we should have a big rowing team winning a lot of medals and that is not happening.

Two medals for us so far!

Yeah we can forget about that. They are in the same semifinal as all three medalists from the 2019 World Championships. Would've been nice because we haven't made the final of LW2X since 2012. We won gold every year from 2007 to 2011 and silver in 2012. Our M1X, W1X and LW2X all got placed in the more difficult semifinals. I still think both single sculls should make the finals but tough luck for our LW2X especially after being in that brutal Heat 3 today with three teams qualified for Tokyo, when the other heats only had one team qualified for Tokyo.

It was only open to countries that had zero or one Olympic quotas, so most of the big rowing countries were excluded

Just the European Championship medals, but at the same venue they just held the European Olympic qualification regatta which concluded yesterday, so many of the rowers who competed there stayed in Varese for the European Championships. Lithuania was not eligible to compete in those Olympic qualifiers.

So all six Greek crews are still alive after today. I think it's safe to say our LM2X and M2- will be eliminated in the semifinals. Hoping our LW2X can sneak into Final A. They still have a chance to make it to the Olympics next month but it will be tough. The reallocated quota there could make a huge difference though. I think Ntouskos (M1X) and Kyridou (W1X) will both make the finals, but I'm a bit worried about Kyridou especially after everything she went through this week (fell out of the boat in Olympic qualifying, then had to compete in repechage here). Our W2- is already in the final and I'm hoping they can win another medal like they did last year. Both girls just only 20 years old, and they already each have 10 medals in big competitions (though only one at the senior level). Will be hard to see Romania not win gold, and the other big contenders seem to be Great Britain and Spain.

Absolutely dominating performance from Ntouskos to win his heat. Thought it would be tough with Zeidler in his heat, but Ntouskos won by over 14 seconds! He had two races yesterday in the Olympic qualification regatta, so it was important for him to win this heat and avoid the repechage. I like his chances for a medal now. It’s a shame he said he might retire after Tokyo, he is only 24 and would be 27 in Paris. I think it would be a big loss for Greek rowing. Hopefully he decides to continue. Tough luck for our women’s lightweight double. They were in a tough heat, with the three other boats all being already qualified for Tokyo (and yet our girls were still very close!). The other heats each only had one Tokyo-bound boat. I think they’ll still make the semifinals via the repechage. Will be tough to make Final A, but I think they’ll improve on their 9th place finish from last year. Not much to say about our men's pair and men's lightweight double. They are young crews though (all six of our boats here are young).

I hope Greece can have a good championships. Would like to repeat the performance from last year where we won two medals. Bourmpou/Kyridou already passed to Final A, did better than Spain in the heat so I think they're in a good position to win another medal. Romania and Great Britain will be tough though. Kyridou 4th in her heat, but she was in the toughest semi. Might be fatigued from the Olympic qualification regatta. I have high hopes for Ntouskos to do better than last year where he finished 5th, but I also hope he isn't tired from the Olympic qualification regatta.

There are only 9

2021 European Championships begin tomorrow

It has been confirmed, she fell into the water four minutes before the start of the race but still wanted to compete despite being soaking wet and cold.

Thank you for that information. It will still be tough but good for our girls. Especially if Nikolaidou is able to get healthy in time and replace Fitsiou.

A relief that Ntouskos qualified, and I am confident Kyridou will qualify next month as well. Sad for our LW2X though, they really needed this. Will be hard to see them qualify now. Does anyone know what is happening with the reallocated quota from the Americas event in LW2X?

I thought Ukraine secured two, W1X and LM2X?

Update: Apparently Anneta Kyridou fell into the water before the race and was wet and cold during the race because of it. This sounds crazy so I am not sure how accurate this information is...

I have no idea how Anneta Kyridou finished sixth in W1X! I wonder if she knew she was the fourth priority for the Greek federation to get the quota, and she is saving her energy for the European Championships which begin tomorrow? Still very risky if that's the case. Our LW2X finished second and our LM2X were fifth, meaning LW2X will go to Tokyo unless Stefanos Ntouskos wins first place M1X. He is probably expected to win first place but I don't know. He won his heat and semifinal both, unless he fails on purpose so our LW2X can go to Tokyo and he would still probably qualify in Lucerne.

Roland Garros postponed by one week

Postponed until Thursday now!

She is currently bringing a lawsuit against the federation so they probably hate her anyways I think the justification they had was that the lightweight double sculls have priority over single sculls because they have two athletes instead of one, and men's has priority over women's because we already qualified a women's crew for Tokyo. Probably they don't want to look bad because we sent 10 rowers to London and 10 to Rio, right now we only have 2 for Tokyo. Anneta Kyridou deserves it though. In 2019 she won gold in the women's double at the World U23, then her partner got injured last minute so she competed with an inexperienced alternate girl at the World Championships and didn't do well. Then she won gold in the single sculls at the European U23, before deciding to switch to the lightweight category even though the federation didn't support this decision and she had to pay for her own healthy meals at training camp, which her single mother who had cancer was paying for. Then she lost 10 kg but ended up fainting at a training camp and was neglected by team staff (part of why she is suing them), so she switched back to regular sculls instead of lightweight in the middle of summer 2020, defended her gold at the European U23 and then took bronze at the European Championships as a 21 year old. It would be a crime if she doesn't go to Tokyo. She deserves it so much after all she has been through. I think she'll make it though the final regatta if needed, but yeah it is a risk. A risk for Ntouskos too. I think the quota will go to Anastasiadou/Fitsiou (LW2X), which would be nice for them but I don't think they have a chance to win a medal, whereas W1X and M1X we have young rowers that have decent chances to make Final A (and you never know, maybe win a surprise medal). Anastasiadou was supposed to row with Nikolaidou which would've been a good team. Anastasiadou won gold at last year's European U23 in LW1X as an 18 yo, and Nikolaidou was 4th in Rio in W2X, also is the former world champion in LW1X and won other world silver medals in W2X and LW1X. Unfortunately she is injured which means Fitsiou gets the chance that she otherwise wouldn't have.

Great to see all of the Greek crews advancing, with M1X, W1X and LW2X all finishing in first place in their heats. Unfortunately we can only send one boat from here as everyone knows. The rumor is that the federation decided LM2X has priority, then LW2X, then M1X, then W1X. Tough luck for 2020 European Championships bronze medalist Anneta Kyridou, but she's probably the most likely to qualify from the Final Qualification Regatta anyways.

If Ieva didn't get suspended, would Donata have competed in the single sculls instead?

Andreescu vs Sakkari was a great match. Even though Maria lost, I am very proud of her. It seems the women's matches this tournament are more entertaining than the mens.