Estonia's Allar Raja Tapped for Lenny Peters Cup World Rowing Team

High Point, North Carolina - Estonia’s Olympic rower Allar Raja has been selected to the World Team to race Team USA for the inaugural Lenny Peters Cup on April 12, race officials have announced.

With an incredible professional rowing career that has spanned three decades, the 5-time Olympian from Parnu, Estonia, will join three male and four female Paris Olympians on the world team to challenge the USA national team squad in a Ryder Cup style series of match races.

Raja’s selection adds an element of intrigue to the match up with Team USA. It was his Estonian quad scull crew that knocked out the Americans from qualification for the Paris Olympic Games by just 0.13 of a second at the Final Olympic Selection Regatta in Lucerne last year. The USA men's quad sculls crew finished third behind Norway and Estonia in the final at that event after a grueling battle on the water.

In Lucerne, five crews were within two seconds of each other as the race hit the midway point, with Norway holding less than a one-second advantage over Estonia and the U.S. another half-second behind. The Americans were even with Estonia in the third quarter of the race, taking a slight lead as the crews entered the final 500 meters. The U.S. and Estonia kept trading positions during the final sprint with the Estonians pulling their bowball ahead in the final strokes.

Raja made his Olympic debut in 2008 in Beijing, the same year he won the first of his four European Championship titles. At the Rio de Janero Games in 2016 on the famous Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, Raja and his crew mates Kaspar Taimsoo, Tõnu Endrekson, and Andrei Jämsä won Olympic Bronze in the quadruple sculls.

Lenny Peters Cup Race director Gene Kininmonth said Raja’s selection to join the world team is a personal one for him. “I actually coached Allar very briefly in Los Angeles in 2008,” recounts Kininmonth. “He was clearly immensely talented and committed to this sport. Just a few months later he went on to win the Queen Mother Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, the European Championships in Marathon, Greece and then he earned his first Olympic selection that same year. It has been a pleasure following his amazing rowing journey all this time.”

Raja now serves as a director on the Estonian Olympic Committee. At 41 years of age, the Lenny Peters Cup will mark the finale for his professional rowing career.

“I am honored and excited to join the World Team to race Team USA for the Lenny Peters Cup,” said Raja. “Competing alongside top athletes from around the world is a privilege. I look forward to the challenge, the camaraderie, and the opportunity to represent my experience and passion for the sport on this global stage one more time.”