Dukla the best in Prague eights race

Raced over 2000m, the course on the Vltava River is winding with the famous Vysehrad Rock situated at a sharp bend about 700m before the finish line. Prague’s Dukla Club took advantage of local course knowledge to win the main race for the 34th time in a row. The Dukla club is a Prague-based elite club which includes many national rowing team participants and is sponsored by the Czech Ministry of Defence. Dukla received the winning shield from the mayor of Prague.

This anniversary year saw record participation of 140 eights spread across a variety of events including masters, juniors and varsity races.
In the men’s and women’s single sculls racing and there were no surprises with Olympic Champion Mirka Knapkova winning the women’s event while World Champion Ondrej Synek won the men’s event.  Synek and Knapkova do not always race the single as sometimes they prefer to reinforce their club eights.

Knapkova also competed in the Charles University crew in the 1000m varsity eights race. This race was won by the Czech Technical University with Great Britain’s Cambridge University in second, the Czech University of Life Sciences third and Charles University fourth.  
In the master’s men’s eight event the winning boat included 2012 Thomas Keller medal winner, Vaclav Chalupa of the Czech Republic.
The regatta holds a special spot in the Czech Republic’s sporting calendar and is a favourite for spectators. It is held in the heart of Prague and there are many attractive places to watch the race.

The race is run in the heart of Prague; its base is situated along the popular Rasín Embankment; and spectators can watch it from attractive places such as the surrounding bridges or the romantic Vysehrad observation point.