Greek rowers celebrated a triumphant performance at the World Junior Rowing Championships in Saint Catharines, Canada, capturing three gold medals. Out of five Greek crews in the finals, Greece secured three first-place finishes, one second, and one fifth.
Panos Makrygiannis led the charge, becoming the World Champion in the Junior Men’s Single Sculls after a remarkable race. He overcame fierce competition to clinch the gold, adding to Greece’s growing reputation in the sport.
In the Junior Men’s Double Sculls, the duo of Nikos Cholopoulos and Konstantinos Giannoulis continued their winning streak, following their European title with a world championship victory. The pair crossed the finish line in 6:50.18, ahead of crews from Germany and Australia.
The Junior Women’s Double Sculls team, Gabriela Lioliou and Valia Lykomitrou, also shone on the world stage, capturing gold with a time of 7:39.90. Their powerful final sprint allowed them to surpass the British team, which finished second, and the Spanish team, which took third.
Nefeli Dara and Dimitra Papaioannou earned silver in the Junior Women’s Pair, improving on their fourth-place finish at the European Championships. They completed the race in 7:48.51, just behind the Romanian crew, which claimed gold, and ahead of an independent team that took bronze.
The Greek success story was rounded out by the commendable performance of Dimosthenis Koutsogiannis and Andreas Bourkas in the Junior Men’s Pair, where they finished fifth in their first appearance together at a world championship. The gold in this category went to Romania, with Germany and Spain taking silver and bronze, respectively.
This remarkable haul of medals solidifies Greece’s position as a rising power in international rowing, with its young athletes showing immense promise for the future.
