2004 International Season Opens in Poznan

Malta Regatta Course, Poznan
© FISA

Poznan, Poland will again host international rowing by opening the season of this all-important Olympic year. The first Bearing Point Rowing World Cup of 2004 will see 30 countries and over 500 athletes take to the waters of the 2000 metre Malta Regatta Course.

The Malta Regatta Course dates back to 1952 and is one of the oldest man-made rowing venues in Europe. Situated on Lake Malta it is the result of the damming of the Cybina River and along the shores of the lake recreation areas have been developed. An artificial ski slope is open throughout the year for Poznan’s 700,000 residents and stands in contrast to summer-time lake swimming.

International rowing is not new to Poznan. The city got a taste for top competition when they hosted the Junior World Championships in 1995 and then the 2000 World University Rowing Championships. This year the venue will host the first World Cup as well as the Under 23 Regatta in August.

Racing starts at 9.00am on Friday, 7 May with heats and repechages. Semi-finals will be raced on Saturday, followed by finals on Sunday, 9 May. The European sports channel, Eurosport will transmit from 10.00am until 1.30pm on Sunday with various local European stations also broadcasting. For countries outside of Europe live video streaming can be seen on www.worldrowing.com.

An estimated 20,000 spectators are expected on the final day at the Malta Regatta Course. Scattered clouds with some winds are expected for the rest of the week.

The home crowd will now be keeping a keen eye on the men’s quad. Poland has retained the same line-up since 2001 and the crew already has a 2002 silver and 2003 bronze medal under their belts. Adam Korol, Slawomir Kruszkowski, Marek Kolbowicz and Adam Bronikowski will enjoy the home course advantage when they face the number one and two crews in the world ? Germany and the Czech Republic ? later this week.

Poland’s rowing flagship and Olympic Champions Tomasz Kucharski and Robert Sycz have had to withdraw from the lightweight men’s double at the last minute as a back injury has kept Sycz out of the boat. ?Robert has been unable to train for the last two weeks,? says head coach Bogdan Gryczuk. ?But he will be back soon.? Meanwhile Kucharski has been making the most of his time in the single. 

The men’s single tops the number of entries with 30 boats from 18 countries lining up. World Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway will battle world number two, Germany’s Marcel Hacker in their first race of the season. Last year’s bronze medal winner Iztok Cop of Slovenia adds depth to the competition by also starting his season at Poznan. Then later Cop will join his Olympic Champion partner, Luka Spik the men’s double.