Rowing Legend Tonu Endrekson Joins World Dream Team to race USA for the Lenny Peters Cup

HIGH POINT, NORTH CAROLINA - Estonia's Tonu Endrekson has been selected to join the World Team to race the United States for the Lenny Peters cup next month, the race organizers have announced. 

The race at Oak Hollow Lake on April 12 will mark his retirement from elite level rowing after a thirty year career in the sport that has seen racing appearances at six Olympic Games. 

"Tonu is a legend of this sport," says race director Gene Kininmonth. "Six Olympic Games and a medal winner at two of those make him one of the sports greats. It is a special honor for us that he will see out his racing career right here at the Lenny Peters Cup." 

The Lenny Peters Cup sees 8 rowers (4 men & 4 women) from around the world compete against 8 rowers from the United States in a match race format played out in three boat classes: Single Sculls, Quadruple Sculls, and Mixed Quadruple Sculls.

Tonu first raced internationally as a junior rower in 1996. In 2001 he won the U23 World Championships in the men's double sculls with Estonian crewmate Leonid Gulov. 

In 2008 at the Beijing Olympics Endrekson teamed up with another Estonian rowing legend Jüri Jaanson in the double sculls finishing just 0.05 seconds off the gold and in second place. 

Tonu won his second Olympic medal in Rio in 2016 when he teamed up with  Andrei Jämsä, Allar Raja, Kaspar Taimsoo in the men's quad sculls to finish with the bronze medal. 

Tonu graduated high school in 1997 and then went on to complete a degree in sports science at the University of Tartu in 2003. He has been a professional rower since as well as a member of the Estonian Defense Forces from 2007 to 2020.

He also served from 2020–24 as a member of the Board of Representatives of the Estonian Olympic Committee.

ROWING LEGEND TONU ENDREKSON AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Team USA is selected by USRowing’s High Performance Director following USRowing Winter Speed Order event concluding March 23. The World Team is selected following acceptance of invitations by athletes selected on Olympic results, world rankings, and recent racing results.

What is the format of racing? Scullers will compete in head-to-head competition for points. There are 24 points on offer over the three rounds of racing.

Round One will see each USA athlete race an overseas athlete in the single sculls over the Olympic distance of 1,500 meters with each winner earning one point for their team. The draw for the single sculls races will be randomly assigned.

Round Two: USA will race the World Team in Quadruple Sculls over 1,500m, with the winning male and female crew each winning 4 points.

Round Three: each team races in Mixed Quad Sculls. The winning crews each earn 4 points for their team. In the case of a tie, the winning crew in the final Mixed Quad race will win the Lenny Peters Cup.

The event is held in conjunction with the Bethany Medical North Carolina Rowing Championships, presented by the Lenny Peters Foundation. RP3 Ergometers will sponsor a warm up area - the RP3 ROW ZONE - for rowers on race day.