The rowing national team of Serbia won the silver medal at the European Junior Championship, which was held on May 23 and 24, 2026, in Brandenburg, Germany, organized by the World Rowing Federation.
A great success for Serbian rowing was brought by the crew of the women’s four (4-) consisting of: Anja Toković, Danica Vrcelj, Simona Vrcelj, and Tara Višacki, under the leadership of coach Nikola Simović, winning second place in Europe and the silver medal in a competition of the nine best European crews.
The Serbian national team members already showed in the qualifiers that they were ready to fight for the highest ranking. In the second qualifying group, in the race held on Saturday, May 23, Serbia took second place with a time of 7:00.64, behind Romania, and ahead of Germany and individual neutral athletes (AIN 1), thereby securing a place in the A final.
In today’s A final, the Serbian female rowers rowed an even stronger and faster race, setting a time of 6:50.73 and winning the silver medal, behind Romania (6:47.55), and ahead of Greece, Germany, Italy, and individual neutral athletes (AIN 2).
Special weight is given to this result by the fact that the Serbian boat was in the fight for the very top during the entire final race. After the first 500 meters, Serbia lagged only 1.43 seconds behind the leading Romania, and during the middle part of the course, it safely guarded the second position ahead of extremely strong competition. Compared to the qualifiers, our girls were faster in the final by almost ten seconds, which speaks best of their preparedness, maturity, and quality in the most important race of the championship.
A total of nine crews competed in the women’s four discipline this year: Italy, Greece, Poland, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Germany, and two crews of individual neutral athletes (AIN 1 and AIN 2), and the Serbian juniors managed to climb the podium and become vice-champions of Europe.
The coach of the Serbian crew, Nikola Simović, emphasized that he is extremely proud of the girls and everything they displayed at the European Championship:
“The silver medal is the crown of our many years of hard work, sacrifice, and faith in the team. Although the gold was close, being second in Europe is a historical result for us. The girls represented our country worthily and showed that they belong to the very European and world top. This is proof that we are on the right track and a great incentive for everything that awaits us in the future. I am particularly pleased with the way they rowed the final race – bravely, disciplined, and without giving up until the very finish line. This generation has great potential and I believe that many more great results are ahead of it.”
The coordinator of the Rowing Federation of Serbia for younger national selections, Aleksandar Ivković, assessed that the won medal is the result of systematic work with younger categories:
“The girls showed good results throughout the entire first part of the season. This is our best junior crew this year, with one cadet in the team. The silver medal at the European Championship is confirmation that top results can be made even on the biggest European stage through continuous and systematic work with younger categories. A high level of work with younger categories is necessary in order to have medals from major competitions in the coming years as well. With this medal, the girls gave an excellent example to their peers, younger, but also older than themselves on how to fight for the highest honors. All congratulations to the girls and their coach Nikola Simović. We expect a good ranking at the World Championship as well, because with this medal they fulfilled the criteria for performing at the WC.”
The President of the Rowing Federation of Serbia, Marko Marjanović, congratulated all Serbian crews on their results and said that the Federation will continue to provide full support to the development of young national selections:
“Congratulations to all our crews on the fantastic presentation of Team Serbia, and special congratulations to the crew of the women’s four on a great race and a big success. Winning the silver medal at the European Championship in such competition represents a huge result for Serbian rowing and confirmation that Serbia has a talented generation of young athletes. The Federation tried to provide a peaceful and stable platform for smooth preparations, so that the whole team, despite school obligations, would have the best possible conditions for training and top racing. This is an excellent overture for the World Championship, where we wish them an even more peaceful training process and to row their fastest races on the world stage.”
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In addition to the silver medal winners, Serbia was represented in Brandenburg by two more crews that also achieved notable results.
The men’s four (4-) consisting of: Bogdan Janjić, Strahinja Đurđević, Andrej Jović, and Vanja Ignjatov, took 9th place in Europe in the overall standings. The Serbian crew won 3th place in the B final with a time of 6:28.35, ahead of Switzerland, Poland, and Ireland, and behind Spain. Previously, in the qualifiers, they were fourth in their group with a time of 6:26.99, behind Poland, France, and Germany, and ahead of Spain. A total of 10 crews competed in this discipline.
The women’s quadruple sculls (4x) consisting of: Lana Marinković, Nađa Dutina, Katarina Eremija, and Tara Božanović, took 10th place overall in Europe. The Serbian national team members were fourth in the B final with a time of 7:06.13, ahead of Lithuania, and behind Greece, Italy, and Spain. In the qualifiers, they won 6th place in their group with a time of 7:08.00, and a total of 11 crews competed in this discipline.
31 countries participated in the European Junior Championship in Brandenburg, as well as teams of individual neutral athletes (AIN), with a total of 152 crews and 449 male and female rowers who competed in 14 junior disciplines.
The Rowing Federation of Serbia thanked the Ministry of Sport of the Republic of Serbia and the Olympic Committee of Serbia for their support, and among the first to send congratulations to the Rowing Federation of Serbia and the Serbian national team members were the Minister of Sport of the Republic of Serbia, Zoran Gajić, and the President of the Olympic Committee of Serbia, Dejan Tomašević.
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Source: Dnevnik.rs, Photo: VSS