Cop and His Challengers

Cop (centre) and challengers Olaf Tufte and Ian Lawson

The dust and heat of the World Championships barely had time to settle before some of the top rowers in the world lined up again, this time in singles, for the 5^th Cop Challenger in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Founder, host and organiser of the race was Slovenia’s most medalled athlete, Iztok Cop.

Cop’s first international medal came in 1991 when he finished second in the pair. Over a decade later he is still going strong with three Olympic Games under his belt and a gold medal in the double from the Sydney Olympics. This year he finished third in the single at the World Championships in Milan and straight after the final Cop headed back to Slovenia to organise the Challenger and defend his 2002 win in this event.

Each year Cop invites eight rowers to compete in singles over a 200-metre course. Raced in the heart of Slovenia’s capital city the short course is designed for spectators. This year 3,000 people lined the shores of Ljubljanica River on September 19^th and were able to see the complete race without having to move from their viewing spot. Starting at seven in the evening, the crowds watched scullers race over floodlit waters.

This year the field was a veritable who’s who of top rowers and included veteran single sculler and Olympic silver medallist, Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic, 2003 World Champion Olaf Tufte of Norway, lightweight World

Cop Challenger regular Vaclav Chalupa checks out the floodlit course before his race

Champion Sam Lynch of Ireland, Olympic silver medallist, Diederik Simon of the Netherlands plus Great Britain’s Ian Lawson. Also invited were rivals in the pair, Ramon Di Clemente of South Africa and Niksa Skelin of Croatia who finished with bronze and silver respectively at this years World Championships.

Cop says he has no trouble getting participants. ?There are still some rowers who I would like to see in Ljubljana in the future,? says Cop.  ?I’m very honoured that nobody so far has turned down the invitation.?

The challenge follows a knockout style one-on-one format and the final two boats turned out to be a repeat of last year. Friends and on-the-water rivals Tufte and Cop went head to head. In a close sprint that lasted less than 40 seconds Cop finished in first over the World Champion Tufte.

Happy to finish first for two years running Cop said afterwards, ?I don’t think any of us prepared especially for this race. This is a fun event and my major victory was its success.?

Final results:
1^st Iztok Cop, Slovenia
2^nd Olaf Tufte, Norway
3^rd Ian Lawson, Great Britain
4^th Vaclav Chalupa, Czech Republic
5^th Sam Lynch, Ireland
6^th Ramon Di Clemente, South Africa
7^th Diederik Simon, Netherlands
8^th Niksa Skelin, Croatia