Ivan Talaja Wins European Under-23 Single Sculls Title for Croatia

Ivan Talaja capped a dominant European under-23 campaign by winning the single sculls title in Kruszwica, Poland, with more than four seconds separating him from the runner-up.

The Croatian rower crossed the finish line in 7:22.18. Sweden’s Erik Kallstrom took silver, 4.02 seconds behind, while Greece’s Nikolaos Cholopoulos won bronze, 9.24 seconds after Talaja.

Talaja had already set the fastest time in qualifying and repeated that achievement in the semifinals. He improved his pace in each race and remained unbeaten throughout the competition.

Earlier in August, he won a bronze medal in the quadruple sculls at the European Championships in Varese, where he represented Croatia’s quadruple sculls crew.