Double Olympic champion Helen Glover marked her competitive return to rowing with gold alongside Polly Swann in the women's pair final at the European Rowing Championships in Varese, Italy.

The British duo held off Romania to win in seven minutes 2.73 seconds in Glover's first competition in five years.

The European Rowing Championships are the first main international senior event of the season where rowers have a chance to test their 2021 speed and are being held in Varese, Italy for the second time.

Thirty five nations are attending with many teams racing in the line-ups they expect to send to the rearranged Tokyo Olympics in July.

Host nation Italy has the highest number of boats entered with 21 of the 22 boat classes being raced. The Netherlands, who finished top of the medals table last year, and Great Britain both have 18 boats entered.

Para rowing racing will also be taking place in the PR1 men’s and women’s single sculls, PR2 mixed double sculls and PR3 mixed coxed four.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Great Britain were unable to compete in last year's European Rowing Championships but are making up for it this time with a large team that includes the return of 2012 and 2016 Olympic Champion Helen Glover, who hasn't raced since the Rio 2016 Olympics. Glover will race with Polly Swann in the women's pair.

GB's Victoria Thornley, who won fourth place at the 2019 World Championships, will return to racing to compete in the women's singles skulls.

The men's single skulls is the largest field in Varese with 26 entries, where Denmark's Sverri Nielsen will be defending his title.

Find out more about who will be competing in which races here, external.

The BBC will bring you coverage of the men’s and women’s elite races from Ostend, Belgium via the Red Button, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

All the action will also be available to watch for 30-days on-demand after the event on BBC iPlayer here.

Coverage

Sunday 11 April

09:20-15:00 BST - BBC Two (from 13:00), BBC Red Button (0920-1300) and uninterrupted on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website & app

Rowing has a proud history within British sport thanks to the exploits of Sir Steve Redgrave, and the country's Olympic team has never been in better shape.

Five-time Olympic gold medallist Redgrave told BBC Sport how a chance request at school set him on the path to become one of Britain's most successful ever athletes.

More than 55,000 people from 520 clubs in Britain now row at least once a week and there are around 300 rowing events a year across Britain. You don't need to be an Olympic-standard athlete to get out and enjoy the United Kingdom's waterways.

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If you don't have time to train regularly then Explore Rowing, external could be for you. The scheme aims to introduce newcomers and give a new lease of life to those who have returned to rowing.

As well as this, the British Rowing website has a whole section committed to learning to row, external - perfect if you don't know your oar from rudder!

BBC Sport

Whether you wish to emulate the success of the GB rowing team, or just burn a few calories out, rowing is an easy to enjoy sport for all.

There is a wide range of ways for people of all abilities to take part in rowing, including personal challenges, indoor rowing, ocean crossings, regattas and international competitions.

Most people are familiar with sliding-seat racing as the discipline included in the Olympic Games. The boats generally have one, two, four or eight seats and some have a coxswain to steer and direct the crew from the back.

Rowing in a small group requires precise co-ordination and excellent communication skills, so not only will you get fit, but also make some good friends in the process

Visit British Rowing, external for more information on the basics of rowing.

Image source, Getty Images