An All-Suceava Podium in the Young Birds Middle Distance Category

It is no longer a surprise to see fanciers from the Moldova region occupying national podiums in the short-distance categories. If in the past breeders from this area were mainly known for their Marathon performances, in recent seasons they have proven that they can also compete at the highest level in one-day races.

The 2025 season once again confirms this trend, as the entire national podium in the Young Birds Middle Distance category is occupied by fanciers from Suceava County. Moreover, 4th, 6th and 10th places at national level also belong to Suceava breeders, while no fewer than 14 pigeons from this loft appear in the national top 20, a statistic that clearly reflects the competitive strength of the area.

For this year’s young bird championship, the Suceava Federation offered two race programmes. The first included races from all categories, including long distance and marathon, while the second consisted exclusively of eight sprint races. The three pigeons that reached the national podium competed on Programme 1, being entered only in the middle distance races.

The Curelar Family – National Champions

For the Middle Distance category, the Suceava Federation organised seven races from Jarosław (Poland), with distances ranging between 340 and 390 km. Interestingly, all three podium pigeons competed only in the first four middle distance races, meaning they were in direct competition with each other.

The winner of this battle was the cock RO-2025-0899940, raced by Ionel and Georgiana Curelar from Dornești. The national champion norm was achieved with 11.57 penalty points, based on the following overall rankings:

5th place out of 8,813 pigeons

5th place out of 3,021 pigeons

6th place out of 10,809 pigeons

14th place out of 1,594 pigeons

The distances flown by the champion ranged between 360 and 366 km.

“I have been racing more seriously since 2014, and in 2017 I even had an Olympic pigeon in the young bird category. I usually focus on marathon racing, but recently I introduced some middle distance bloodlines. The champion is a cock, bred by Cosmin Olteanu, hatched in March. I raised around 100 youngsters, kept on darkness for eight weeks, then paired and put on widowhood before the season. They were trained daily at 20 km. The champion only competed in one sprint race and four middle distance races. He arrived first to my loft every time, but due to very strong winds he lost time when landing, sometimes more than a minute. Even so, the result is outstanding,” said Ionel Curelar.

Costel Vicol – National Vice-Champion

Second place at national level was claimed by Costel Vicol from Volovăț with the youngster RO-2025-0182581, who completed the norm with 16.72 penalty points. In fact, the vice-champion secured most of his result in the last two races, where he achieved a 1st place on release (1,594 pigeons) and a 2nd place on zone (2,341 pigeons), accumulating only 1.48 points from the total coefficient. The other two rankings were: 42nd place out of 10,809 pigeons and 100th place out of 8,813 pigeons, at distances between 358 and 366 km.

“I joined the Columba Federation in 2022 and in my very first season I became national champion in Middle Distance and Middle Distance Ace with old birds. Now I am national vice-champion in the Young Birds Middle Distance category. One-day races are my main objective, and in my loft I keep only Rainer Puttmann pigeons. The vice-champion is inbred to Hurrican, the famous Puttmann pigeon. I had a team of 30 youngsters, kept in semi-darkness, but they still moulted up to the seventh flight. My wife took care of them, because I left the country just before the season started,” explained Costel Vicol.

Toader Sepciuc – On the Podium Even in a team

Starting with the 2024 season, Toader Sepciuc from Volovăț has been racing in combination with his close friend Liviu Bodnar, under the team name “BWL + TFS”. Although their initial goal was to select the youngsters, entering them in the middle distance races brought them a national trophy: 3rd place National Middle Distance Young Birds. The performance was achieved by the hen RO-2025-2049519, which accumulated 31 penalty points in the four Jarosław races. Her best result was a 3rd place out of 2,341 pigeons.

“When I returned from abroad shortly before the season, the youngsters were not training very well. I placed them in the racing section and trained them personally on the race direction. After six training tosses, I entered them directly in the first middle distance race. They performed very well, and in the second middle distance race the brother of this hen finished 2nd on release. She was more consistent, though. After the second race, I noticed she had laid eggs, so I gave her a nest box. That probably motivated her even more, because her next results were better. She is bred from two of my best racers, which were retired to the breeding loft this year,” said Toader Sepciuc.

In total, 119 young birds managed to complete the Middle Distance norm in the 2025 season.