The event took place at the Aidu veeseikluskeskus water park, which opened its rowing lanes only last month.

The most successful athlete of the championships turned out to be Krete Koovit (Viljandi SK), who took five golds all told. Her clubmate Doris Meinbek won four golds and one silver, while Helene Dimitrjev took four golds and one bronze, and Gerli Endrekson earned three golds and one bronze – all of them from Viljandi SK.

National team coach Aleksei Lipintsov said of the venue: "Now we finally have a place to hold training camps before big competitions. The lanes are in, and everything meets Olympic standards. We can do two-kilometer interval sessions between lanes, everything is ideal."

Candidates for the Estonian national team, preparing for the senior World Championships in China at the end of September, aimed to compete in as many events as possible in Aidu, as the field was still wide open: The only confirmed national rower for the worlds was Narva's Mikhail Kushteyn in the single sculls, going into the Aidu competition.

"As for the others, of course we'd like to see a four at the World Championships too. We'll evaluate things as we go; nothing is decided yet. If the men show improvement in races, training, interval sessions, and test workouts — both physically and technically — then everything is possible," Lipintsov said.

At the weekend regatta itself, the best-performing men rowers were Mikhail Kushteyn (Narva Energia) and Johann Poolak (Pärnu Kalev) with three golds and one silver.

Tallinn SK's Nikita Žoglo and Karl Kristofer Orgse collected five medals each, while two golds and one silver went to Allar Raja (Pärnu Kalev), Uku Siim Timmusk (Tallinn SK), and Sten-Erik Anderson (Pärnu Kalev).

Helene Dimitrjev and Krete Koovit (Viljandi SK) won the women's coxless pair with a time of 7:50.2, ahead of Berit Alttoa and Marta Vaimand (Pärnu, 8:27.7), and Hanna-Maria Pulin and Kadri Kukk (Viljandi, 8:36.3). Artjom Holostõhh (Tallinn SK) triumphed in the men's lightweight single sculls, while Rachel Kõllo (TÜASK) took first in the women's single sculls with 8:21.4. Doris Meinbek (Viljandi SK) placed second (8:32.3), and Tuuli Neidi Saks (Tallinn SK) was third.

In the men's coxless four, Tallinn SK/Narva Energia claimed victory with 6:13.4, just ahead of Pärnu Kalev (6:15.0) and Pärnu SK (6:29.4). Mikhail Kushteyn (Narva Energia) and Johann Poolak (Pärnu Kalev) dominated the men's double sculls with a time of 6:39.4. In the women's quadruple sculls, Viljandi SK took first place with 7:34.0.

The regatta ended with the eights race, where Tallinn SK/Pärnu Kalev finished first with 6:21.8, followed by Pärnu SK (6:30.7) and Viljandi SK (6:33.1).

The next rowing regatta in Aidu is scheduled for August 16–17, when Estonia's youth champions will be determined.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook, Bluesky and X and never miss an update!