European Rowing Championships facts for kids

The European Rowing Championships is a major international competition for rowers. It brings together athletes from European countries. Israel also takes part, even though it's not officially a European nation for sports. This big event is organized by World Rowing. This organization was known as FISA until 2020.

The championships first started way back in 1893. This was just one year after FISA was created. For a long time, this competition was so important that it was almost like a world championship. This was because rowers from all over the world could join, not just from Europe.

Then, the official World Rowing Championships began in 1962. The last European Championships of that era happened in 1973. From 1974 onwards, the World Championships became an annual event. Because of this, the European Championships stopped for a while.

However, the European Championships were brought back in 2007. This time, they focused only on European nations.

History of the Rowing Championships

The very first European Rowing Championships took place in 1893. These events happened every year until 1913. The championships were paused from 1914 to 1919 because of World War I.

The yearly schedule was also interrupted sometimes by the Olympic Games. For example, the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics took the place of the championships that year. The 1936 Berlin Olympics also meant the European Championships were skipped.

World War II caused the championships to be cancelled from 1939 to 1946. The event returned in 1947. It was then skipped again in 1948 and 1952 when the Olympics were held in Europe.

A special moment happened at the 1951 European Rowing Championships. This was the first time that international women's rowing events were tested by FISA. Women's events were officially added in 1954. At first, men's and women's races were held on different days. Sometimes, they even took place in different cities.

On May 27, 2006, the members of FISA voted to bring back the European Rowing Championships as a separate, important event.

When the championships first started in 1893, there were only three types of races. These were men's single scull, coxed four, and eight. Only ten teams entered the competition. Most races were 3,000 meters long. The single scull race was shorter, at 2,000 meters.

More race types were added over the years. The coxed pair was included in 1894. The double scull was added in 1898. The coxless pair joined in 1924, and the coxless four was added the next year. After that, women's rowing was introduced.

When the European Rowing Championships returned in 2007, there were 14 Olympic boat classes. All races were 2,000 meters long. At first, some top European countries, like Great Britain and Germany, didn't always send their best rowers.

However, after the 2012 Summer Olympics, these countries started taking the European Championships very seriously. Since then, the championships have become one of the most important rowing events in the world. They are now considered almost as important as the Olympic Games and World Championships. In Olympic years, these championships are a key test for rowers before the Olympics.

In 2015, European Rowing announced something new. The 2018 championships would be part of the first European Championships. This is a larger event that brings together different European sports championships.

Past Competitions

The first European Rowing Championships took place in 1893. Since 2020, events for Para rowers (athletes with disabilities) have also been added.

#	Year	Host City	Host Country	Events
1	1893	Lake Orta	Italy	3
2	1894	Mâcon	France	4
3	1895	Ostend	Belgium	4
4	1896	Geneva	Switzerland	4
5	1897	Pallanza	Italy	4
6	1898	Turin	Italy	5
7	1899	Ostend	Belgium	5
8	1900	Paris	France	5
9	1901	Zürich	Switzerland	5
10	1902	Strasbourg/Kehl	Germany	5
11	1903	Venice	Italy	5
12	1904	Paris	France	5
13	1905	Ghent	Belgium	5
14	1906	Pallanza	Italy	5
15	1907	Strasbourg/Kehl	Germany	5
16	1908	Lucerne	Switzerland	5
17	1909	Paris	France	5
18	1910	Ostend	Belgium	5
19	1911	Como	Italy	5
20	1912	Geneva	Switzerland	5
21	1913	Ghent	Belgium	5
1914–1919: not held due to World War I
22	1920	Mâcon	France	5
23	1921	Amsterdam	Netherlands	5
24	1922	Barcelona	Spain	5
25	1923	Como	Italy	5
26	1924	Zürich	Switzerland	6
27	1925	Prague	Czechoslovakia	7
28	1926	Lucerne	Switzerland	7
29	1927	Como	Italy	7
30	1929	Bydgoszcz	Poland	7
31	1930	Liège	Belgium	7
32	1931	Paris	France	7
33	1932	Belgrade	Yugoslavia	7
34	1933	Budapest	Hungary	7
35	1934	Lucerne	Switzerland	7
36	1935	Berlin	Germany	7
37	1937	Amsterdam	Netherlands	7
38	1938	Milan	Italy	7
1939–1946: not held due to World War II
39	1947	Lucerne	Switzerland	7
40	1949	Amsterdam	Netherlands	7
41	1950	Milan	Italy	7
42	1951	Mâcon	France	7
43	1953	Copenhagen	Denmark	7
44	1954	Amsterdam	Netherlands	12
45	1955	Bucharest (Women)	Romania	5
	1955	Ghent (Men)	Belgium	7
46	1956	Bled	Yugoslavia	12
47	1957	Duisburg	West Germany	12
48	1958	Poznań	Poland	12
49	1959	Mâcon	France	12
50	1960	London	United Kingdom	5
51	1961	Prague	Czechoslovakia	12
52	1962	East Berlin	East Germany	5
53	1963	Copenhagen (Men)	Denmark	7
	1963	Moscow (Women)	Soviet Union	5
54	1964	Amsterdam	Netherlands	12
55	1965	Duisburg	West Germany	12
56	1966	Amsterdam	Netherlands	5
57	1967	Vichy	France	12
58	1968	East Berlin	East Germany	5
59	1969	Klagenfurt	Austria	12
60	1970	Tata	Hungary	5
61	1971	Copenhagen	Denmark	12
62	1972	Brandenburg an der Havel	East Germany	5
63	1973	Moscow	Soviet Union	12
1974–2006: not held due to the World Rowing Championships
64	2007	Poznań	Poland	14
65	2008	Marathon	Greece	14
66	2009	Brest	Belarus	14
67	2010	Montemor-o-Velho	Portugal	22
68	2011	Plovdiv	Bulgaria	14
69	2012	Varese	Italy	14
70	2013	Seville	Spain	17
71	2014	Belgrade	Serbia	17
72	2015	Poznań	Poland	17
73	2016	Brandenburg an der Havel	Germany	17
74	2017	Račice	Czech Republic	18
75	2018	Glasgow	United Kingdom	17
76	2019	Lucerne	Switzerland	17
Para since 2020
77	2020	Poznań	Poland	22
78	2021	Varese	Italy	22
79	2022	Oberschleißheim	Germany	23
80	2023	Bled	Slovenia	21
81	2024	Szeged	Hungary	21
82	2025	Plovdiv	Bulgaria	20

Medal Winners (1893-2025)

This table shows the total number of medals won by different countries from 1893 up to the 2025 championships. Please note that the medals won by Alsace-Lorraine (one gold, three silvers, and nine bronzes) are included in Germany's total.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Italy	96	116	81	293
2	Soviet Union	94	39	24	157
3	Switzerland	60	42	50	152
4	Romania	51	50	48	149
5	France	49	82	86	217
6	Germany	46	48	34	128
7	Great Britain	46	33	29	108
8	Belgium	45	38	38	121
9	Netherlands	35	59	61	155
10	East Germany	30	39	18	87
11	West Germany	26	16	19	61
12	Hungary	23	18	30	71
13	Greece	21	18	4	43
14	Poland	16	34	36	86
15	Denmark	15	25	15	55
16	Ukraine	15	10	21	46
17	Czech Republic	13	10	14	37
18	Belarus	10	7	9	26
19	Croatia	9	6	6	21
20	Lithuania	8	11	7	26
21	Norway	8	5	10	23
22	Czechoslovakia	7	21	36	64
23	Russia	7	9	11	27
24	Austria	6	18	10	34
25	Ireland	6	6	6	18
26	Serbia	4	7	12	23
27	Estonia	4	3	3	10
28	Sweden	2	4	3	9
29	Finland	2	3	2	7
30	Yugoslavia	2	1	8	11
–	Individual Neutral Athletes	2	0	2	4
31	Spain	1	4	11	16
32	Portugal	1	3	3	7
33	Slovakia	1	2	1	4
34	Bulgaria	1	1	5	7
35	Israel	0	2	1	3
36	Turkey	0	2	0	2
37	Azerbaijan	0	1	0	1
	Georgia	0	1	0	1
	Latvia	0	1	0	1
40	Slovenia	0	0	3	3
41	Moldova	0	0	2	2
Totals (41 entries)		762	795	759	2,316

See also

In Spanish: Campeonato Europeo de Remo para niños

• European Rowing U23 Championships
• European Rowing U19 Championships