International indoor rowing competition Alfa takes place this Saturday

With only this Saturday to go, the highlight of the Estonian and Baltic indoor rowing season – the international indoor rowing competition Alfa – is almost here.

Taking place on January 24th at the Tallinn Indoor Athletics Hall, this year’s Alfa is organized in cooperation between the Tallinn Rowing Club, Sõudespinning, the Estonian Rowing Association, and Penteer OÜ, the distributor of Concept2 products in the Baltics. The event brings together hundreds of indoor rowers from Estonia, the Baltics, and the Nordic countries.

Alfa is also the third stage of the Sportland Indoor Rowing Series. The distance for individual races is 1000 meters. Winners will be determined in men’s and women’s categories, including U23, lightweight categories, juniors, and the open class. Masters (veterans) also compete over 1000 meters, with age groups ranging from 30+ to 80+. Para-rowers will cover the same distance in PR1/PR2 and PR3 classes.

In addition to individual races, the program includes 500-meter sprints for teams of four. The team category is open to men’s and women’s teams from universities and the Defence Forces, basic schools, high schools, and other teams.

According to the qualification system, heats will be held if there are more than 20 participants in an individual category. The top 20 based on heat times will advance to the final. This is a significant update, as the previous limit was 16 competitors. In team categories, if there are more than five teams, the top five from the heats will advance to the final. No heats will be held for basic school and high school teams.

The competition will be broadcast live on the Alfa YouTube channel. The live stream link will be available on the race day here. Detailed information about the competition can be found here.