The European Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organised by World Rowing (named FISA until 2020) for European rowing nations, plus Israel, which, though not a member of the European federation, is treated as a European nation for competition purposes.^[1]

The championships date back to 1893, the year after FISA (the International Rowing Federation) was founded. Over time, the competition grew in status and as it was not restricted to European countries, became regarded as the quasi-world championships. The World Rowing Championships were commenced in 1962 and the last European Championships were held in 1973 as from 1974, the World Championships became an annual event. The European Championships were re-introduced in 2007 but with a narrower focus on Europe.

The first regatta held as a European Rowing Championships was held in 1893 and these continued annually until 1913; the 1914 to 1919 events did not occur due to World War I. The annual schedule was next interrupted in 1928 when the Amsterdam Olympics were regarded as a replacement event; the 1920 Antwerp Olympics or the 1924 Paris Olympics had previously not been a reason for skipping the European Championships. The next time the Olympics were held in Europe, i.e. the 1936 Berlin Olympics, again saw the European Championships skipped. World War II saw the 1939 to 1946 regattas cancelled. The next European event was held in 1947, with subsequent years skipped due to Europe-based Olympics in 1948 (London) and 1952 (Helsinki).^{[citation needed]}

The 1951 European Rowing Championships is notable as the first test event for international women's rowing organised by the International Rowing Federation (FISA). Regattas continued under that name until 1973. From 1962, the event was replaced (one year in four) by the World Rowing Championships, which then became an annual event from 1974. Women's events were introduced in 1954, the first international races for women,^[2][3] but even then men's and women's events were held on different days, and in some years at different venues.^{[citation needed]}

On 27 May 2006 the FISA members voted to re-introduce a separate European Rowing Championships in its own right.^{[citation needed]}

In the first regatta there were only three events (men's single, coxed four and eight) and only ten entries. Races were 3,000 m long, except for singles – which were only 2,000 m. Coxed pair was first raced in the following year and double scull was added in 1898. Coxless pair was added in 1924 and coxless four was added the year after.^[4] The next change after that was the inclusion of women's rowing.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, when the European Rowing Championship was re-introduced, there were 14 Olympic boat classes racing over 2,000m. Historically the leading European nations, notably Great Britain and Germany, had taken a haphazard approach to attending the championships. Following the 2012 Summer Olympics, however, both fully committed to the event going forward, and from that date, the championships have progressed rapidly to represent one of the key events in world rowing; given the historic and modern strength of European rowing, they rank behind only the Olympic Games, World Championships and World Cup Series. In Olympic years, when World Championships are not held, they provide a key test ahead of the Olympic regatta, in addition to a significant competitive opportunity in their own right.^{[citation needed]}

In 2015, European Rowing announced that the 2018 edition of the championships would form part of the first European Championships, a co-branded multi-sport event organised by, and consisting of the European championships of, the individual European sports federations.^{[citation needed]}

The first regatta held as a European Rowing Championships was held in 1893.^{[5][6][7][8] [a]}

With rowing officials from around the world coming to the regatta, the International Rowing Federation (FISA) held an ordinary congress on 30 August 1950 in Milan. It was at that congress that it was decided that women's rowing would be trialled. The first test event over the shorter agreed 1,000 m distance was run at the 1951 European Rowing Championships in Mâcon a day prior to the men's competition starting.^[9] The 1954 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Bosbaan regatta course in the Dutch city of Amsterdam. This edition is particularly notable for the fact that it was the first time that women were allowed to compete as part of the championships, after three years of trial regattas for them. Women from 13 countries were represented with 34 boats, and they competed in five boat classes (W1x, W2x, W4x+, W4+, W8+) from 20 to 22 August.

Total of medals from 1893 to 2025. Alsace-Lorraine won one gold, three silvers and nine bronzes which are added to Germany's total medals.^{[citation needed]}

• European Rowing U23 Championships
• European Rowing U19 Championships

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