Final stage of the 2009 Rowing World Cup attracts the best to Lucerne

This will be the last chance for athletes to test themselves internationally before the 2009 World Rowing Championships to be held in Poznan, Poland, at the end of August, and teams will make the most of the opportunity to fine-tune crew combinations and increase experience for some of the new team members.

Great Britain will be back with a vengeance. The British completely dominated the first Rowing World Cup regatta of the 2009 season in Banyoles, Spain. Although they also topped the series points table after the second stage of the Rowing World Cup, their medal tally fell short of Germany and New Zealand.

The men’s pair will attract more than usual interest, as Great Britain's flagship crew of Andy Triggs Hodge and Peter Reed will aim to get back on top after failing to win a second gold in Munich. Their challenge will come from New Zealand’s powerful new combination of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond, winners of the second stage of the Rowing World Cup.

The men’s eight has attracted all of the rowing powerhouses to Lucerne. Germany’s new eights project will race for the first time along with the United States who, after many years have a new head coach, Tim McLaren. McLaren has put together a relatively untried line-up. Olympic Champions Canada also arrive with a new crew. Only Italy and Poland, who have already won medals this season, are a known quantity.

Overall, after two Rowing World Cup regattas this season, Germany looks to be moving up the ranks and challenging Great Britain at the top of the table. Poland is currently undergoing a rowing renaissance and has a large team boasting much potential. Going by their Munich performance, the relatively small but strong New Zealand contingent will likely gather a number of medals in the smaller boats.

Lucerne’s Rotsee regatta course is cherished worldwide by rowers and spectators alike. The surroundings show nature’s beauty at its best and the lake’s 2,000m natural regatta course is consistently fair and calm.

Entries and the provisional timetable are available here from today.

A full Rowing World Cup event by event preview will be published on www.worldrowing.com on Wednesday 8 July.
 
The regatta Finals will be video-streamed live on Sunday 12 July and can be accessed through the www.worldrowing.com website.

The Rowing World Cup series was launched in 1997 and includes all 14 Olympic boat classes. The overall Rowing World Cup winners are determined after a series of three regattas. Germany has dominated the series since its beginning twelve years ago, but Great Britain has led the points table for the past two years. This year, the three stages of the series are held in Banyoles, Spain (29-31 May), Munich, Germany (19-21 June); and the final in Lucerne, Switzerland (10-12 July). 

Visit www.worldrowing.com, the official website of the International Rowing Federation and the Rowing World Cup, for a full list of entries, a timetable as well as an extensive boat class preview. During racing, this website will provide live scoring, interviews, photographs, press releases, start lists and full results.

Media accreditation can be requested through the website (www.worldrowing.com > media > media accreditation).

For more information – FISA media contacts:
On-site FISA Media Officer and Website Editor:
Debora Feutren, Publications and Website Editor
mobile: +41 79 793 56 00
E-mail: debora.feutren@fisa.org