ALFA (rowing)

ALFA is the biggest indoor rowing competition in the Baltics^[1] raced over 1,000 m on Concept2 indoor rowers. The first competition in Estonia on Concept2 rowing ergometers took place at the end of 1993 in the hall of the Lootos sports association. There were 54 participants in the competition, initiated by the Tallinn Rowing Club. In 1995, the second rowing ergometer competition took place in the sports facilities of Flora with the third event occurring at the same venue in 1996.

The competition was international for the first time in 1997 and the venue was then the Kalev gym at Tõnismägi. In 1998, the competition got the symbolic name ALFA and it took place in Pirita in the TOP tennis hall, and was repeated there in 1999. The 2000 Alfa competition was dedicated to the 125th anniversary of Estonian rowing. The venue, for the years 2000 as well s for 2001, was the Tallinn Sports Hall. In years 2002 and 2003, the competition took place in the Tallinn Kalev Sports Hall and since 2004, the International competitions on Concept2 rowing ergometers have been held again in Tallinn Sports Hall.

Between the years 1993–1997, the organizer of the competitions was the Tallinn Rowing Club and since 1998 the Tallinn Rowing Club in collaboration with the Estonian Rowing Association.

Over the years the number of participants in the Alfa competition has grown from fifty to five hundred and thus is one of the biggest indoor sporting events in Estonia. Nowadays, the Alfa has become a fixed calendar event for the rowers. In addition to rowers, representatives of other sports, amateurs, politicians, firms, school children, the representatives of the defence forces and rescue services etc. participate actively in the competition.

Winners

Men Year Athlete Time 1993 Jüri Jaanson 2:51,8 1995 Jüri Jaanson 2:48,9 1996 Priit Tasane 2:57,4 1997 Klaus Geiger 2:45,0 1998 Klaus Geiger 2:44,3 1999 Jüri Jaanson 2:46,6 2000 Jüri Jaanson 2:46,3 2001 Tõnu Endrekson 2:45,1 2002 Tõnu Endrekson 2:44,6 2003 Pavel Shurmei 2:39,8 2004 Pavel Shurmei 2:41,9 2005 Pavel Shurmei 2:40,3 2006 Pavel Shurmei 2:40,2 2007 Tõnu Endrekson 2:45,5 2008 Kristaps Bokums 2:41,2 2009 Pavel Shurmei 2:41,9 2010 Tõnu Endrekson 2.45,1 2011 Tõnu Endrekson 2.43,6 2012 Tõnu Endrekson 2.42,5 2013 Tõnu Endrekson 2.45,3 2014 Tõnu Endrekson 2.43,8 2015 Tõnu Endrekson 2.43,2 2016 Joel Naukkarinen 2.42,9

Women Year Athlete Time 1993 Piret Jamnes 3:21,0 1995 Piret Jamnes 3:17,3 1996 Piret Jamnes 3:16,3 1997 Birutė Šakickienė 3:17,9 1998 Birutė Šakickienė 3:18,3 1999 Kalli Meriste 3:21,4 2000 Kalli Meriste 3:18,8 2001 Kalli Meriste 3:20,4 2002 Kristiana Rode-Gulova 3:16,7 2003 Kristiana Rode-Gulova 3:15,6 2004 Kristiana Rode-Gulova 3:17,3 2005 Kristiana Rode-Gulova 3:14,3 2006 Kaisa Pajusalu 3:16,6 2007 Jevgenia Rõndina 3:26,8 2008 Kaisa Pajusalu 3:15,0 2009 Kaisa Pajusalu 3:13,7 2010 Kaisa Pajusalu 3.11,6 2011 Kaisa Pajusalu 3.13,3 2012 Elza Gulbe 3.16,5 2013 Kaisa Pajusalu 3.15,1 2014 Elza Gulbe 3.14,7 2015 Kaisa Pajusalu 3.16,4 2016 Lana Bračka 3.17,8

Bold marks competition record

Wins by athlete

Men Rank Athlete Wins Winning Years 1. Tõnu Endrekson 9 2001, 2002, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 2. Pavel Shurmei 5 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009 3. Jüri Jaanson 4 1993, 1995, 1999, 2000 4. Klaus Geiger 2 1997, 1998 5. Priit Tasane 1 1996 6. Kristaps Bokums 1 2008 7. Joel Naukkarinen 1 2016

Women Rank Athlete Wins Winning Years 1. Kaisa Pajusalu 7 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015 2. Kristiana Rode-Gulova 4 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 3. Piret Jamnes 3 1993, 1995, 1996 4. Kalli Meriste 3 1999, 2000, 2001 5. Birutė Šakickienė 2 1997, 1998 6. Elza Gulbe 2 2012, 2014 7. Jevgenia Rõndina 1 2007 8. Lana Bračka 1 2016

References

1. "Biggest indoor rowing for Baltics" World Rowing (25 January 2008). Retrieved on 15 June 2008

External links

• ALFA Official Webpage (Estonian) (English)
• Concept2 Official Webpage