Four weeks to go; 2014 World Rowing Championships

The world’s oldest manmade rowing course, the Bosbaan, will stage the championships. Located only 7 kilometres from the historic city centre of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the Bosbaan was officially opened by Queen Wilhelmina on 12 June 1937.

In nearly 80 years of existence, the course has gone through many changes and improvements. Originally possessing five lanes only, by 2000 it had been widened to eight lanes with timing facilities upgraded to meet FISA standards for organising international regattas.

Ever since its inauguration, the Bosbaan has been the annual venue of the internationally famous Koninklijke Holland Beker and has also hosted a long list of World Rowing regattas, including:
– four editions of the European Rowing Championships between 1937 and 1966
– the 1977 World Rowing Championships
– the World Rowing Junior Championships in 1968 and 2006
– one stage of the World Rowing Cup in 2007
– World Rowing Under 23 Championships in 2005 and 2011

 The rowing venue is also the home of the Dutch national team.

 The World Rowing Championships, organised annually, regularly attract 1,200 athletes from over 70 countries. National rowing teams have been training intensively this season with the aim to reach their peak performance level right on time for this regatta. Top contending nations will include New Zealand (who topped the overall rankings for this year’s World Rowing Cup series), Great Britain (who won the most gold medals at the European Rowing Championships), Australia, Germany, the United States and China, to name a few. The Netherlands will also be a force to reckon with, having finished seventh overall in the 2014 World Rowing Cup standings.

A few of the Netherlands best crews include the men’s single sculls and the men’s four.  The men’s four are the current World Champions and won silver at the World Rowing Cup in Lucerne behind Great Britain. Roel Braas, the Dutch men’s single sculler, has been improving steadily over the years and finished fourth in Lucerne, challenging the world’s best.

Anticipated highlights at the World Rowing Championships include:
–  The showdown between Olympic Champions Germany and World Champions Great Britain in the men’s eight.
– The men’s pair with Eric Murray and Hamish Bond from New Zealand who have not lost a race since 2009
– Another face-off between Olympic Champion, Mahe Drysdale (New Zealand) and Czech World Champion, Ondrej Synek in the men’s single sculls.
– A new-look field in the men’s double sculls with Olympic Champions in the quad, the Sinkovic brothers from Croatia and a fresh Australian combination upping the level of competition.

On the women’s front, highlights will include:
–  The women’s pair, with the seemingly unbeatable British Olympic Champion crew of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning now faced with serious challenges from New Zealand.
– The women’s double sculls, dominated last year by Lithuania, and now also showcasing new powerful New Zealand, Polish and Australian.
– The rivalry between Olympic medallist and World Champion Kim Crow from Australia and Emma Twigg from New Zealand.
– A tight field in the women’s eight with Canada and the USA both vying for the top spot.

Para-rowing has been part of the World Championship programme since 2002 and part of the Paralympic programme since 2008. In Amsterdam, it will once again showcase the world’s best Para-rowers. With a new event added in 2013, para-rowing is currently divided into five boat classes: LTAMix4+ (LTA mixed coxed four), LTAMix2X (LTA mixed double sculls), TAMix2x (TA mixed double sculls), ASW1x (AS women’s single sculls), and ASM1x (AS men’s single sculls). The LTA and TA are mixed gender boats. Races are held over 1,000 metres for all five events.

The World Rowing Championships will take place from 24 to 31 August. Live results will be available each day. Live blogging, race reports  and photo galleries will be published daily throughout the regatta, and live video streaming will be available for the Olympic finals from 28 to 31 August inclusive on www.worldrowing.com.