Top 3 National Young Bird Long-Distance 2025

In recent years, more and more pigeon clubs in Romania have begun taking young bird long-distance racing seriously. Until recently, including in 2025, young pigeons were expected to meet the same standards as adult birds—three races over 500 km—to achieve a long-distance “norm.” But the 2025 season proved that this category is no longer just an “end-of-year pastime.”

Every ranking represents hundreds of kilometers flown, careful selection, discipline, and passion. The numbers tell the story: 69 national standards were achieved in the 2025 Young Bird Long-Distance category, by pigeons from only three clubs—Suceava, Botoșani, and Gorj. A remarkable feat, earned through hard work, perseverance, and courage.

Suceava Dominates: Two National Trophies

For the young bird long-distance races, Suceava and Botoșani followed a joint plan: three races from Janów, Poland, over distances of 500–580 km. The outcome? Suceava claimed the top two national positions and a staggering 45 county-level standards. Botoșani participated, but county ranking requirements were not met from the very first long-distance race.

Samuel Rusu – National Young Bird Champion

Samuel Rusu claimed the 2025 national title with the hen RO-2025-0185162, completing the standard with 27.29 penalty points. She showed remarkable consistency, placing 8th out of 5,282 pigeons, 13th out of 1,454 pigeons, and 8th out of 475 pigeons over 511 km. Part of a loft of 26 young birds, she descends from a Huub Hermans × Gaby Vandenabeele cross and was trained under semi-dark conditions.

“I began racing in 2020, and since 2021 I’ve been a member of Columba. I race general competitions from 100 to 700 km with pigeons from Gaby Vandenabeele, Leo Heremans, Dirk van Dyck, Heremans-Ceusters, and Huub Hermans. The champion hen is a Huub Hermans × Gaby Vandenabeele cross. The young birds were bred in early February and kept under semi-dark conditions to aid moulting. Before the first long-distance race, I separated the loft: pigeons with mid-distance potential stayed, while the rest went to long-distance. After the first two races, I had several strong pigeons, including a hen scoring less than two points from two races. Unfortunately, she got lost in the final race. Still, the champion succeeded. During the season, I fed them Beyers Ro200 and gave them two 35 km training flights between long-distance races,” explained Samuel Rusu.

Ionel Cotlet – National Vice-Champion

Second place went to Ionel Cotlet with hen RO-2025-0810492, finishing with 37.88 points. A modest start gave way to a powerful finish: in the final Janów race, Cotlet placed the first seven pigeons home, ranking 38 out of 136 young birds. Her results were 2/1,275, 13/572, and 4/781 pigeons.

“Although I aimed to compete in young bird long-distance from the start of the year, I only paired my pigeons on March 15. I bred about 300 youngsters from my best breeders and flyers, preparing them for the season. The birds were very healthy throughout. I did use a mild disinfectant in the drinking water once every two weeks for a few days. The pigeons raced naturally, without pairing. At the final long-distance race, they were moulting heavily on the body but had feathers 6–8 on the wings. I couldn’t prepare them as I wanted for the first race, which affected the results. Although this hen arrived first in the first race, after two races I had two other strong pigeons, but they were lost in the final race. She arrived and earned this national trophy, which I’m very proud of. She comes from a Vandenabeele cock bred from two excellent flyers; her mother is a full sister to the 2018 National Vice-Champion in the As Young Bird Long-Distance, from the German lines I started with,” Ionel Cotlet said.

Gorj Surprises: Claudiu Ciocan’s Dream Debut

Despite a challenging route over Greece, Gorj fanciers achieved 22 standards in Young Bird Long-Distance. The standout of the season was Claudiu Ciocan from Iliești, competing in his first year. With hen RO-2025-1121586, he secured third place nationally, scoring 47.71 points. Her results: 2/454, 7/265, and 22/1,303 pigeons over 511 km.

“I bought a few late young birds in autumn 2024, mostly from my colleague Ionuț Boblea, and bred them in 2025. The hen that achieved this result, with Vandenabeele and Stichelbaut origins, comes from his birds. I entered 16 young pigeons in the first long-distance race. Despite a tough season with many losses, this hen succeeded. She surprised me in every way, especially since she was attacked by a hawk early in the season. I saved her, but I didn’t think she would race again. Yet she trained consistently, so I continued entering her. She was the first pigeon home in every long-distance race,” said Claudiu Ciocan.