Rather than heading to a coastal town, the 2017 World Rowing Coastal Championships went inland for the first time ever and raced on the waters of Lake Geneva in the French town of Thonon-les-Bains. Lake Geneva is known for its unpredictable and changing weather conditions where anything can be expected on the water. This year, however, the three days of racing saw very little wind and rather flat water conditions.

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2017 World Rowing Coastal Championships by numbers

Participating nations… 32
Total crews… 269
Boat class with highest number of entries… men’s double sculls, CM2x, with 68 boats
Boat classes with the most entries ever at a coastal championships … women’s quadruple sculls with coxswain, CW4+x (27), women’s double sculls, CW2x (35)
Boat class with the same number of entries as 2016 … men’s solo, CM1x
Number of nations that medalled … 12
Most medalled nation… Italy (2 golds, 2 silvers, 1 bronze)
Fastest final… Italy’s men’s quadruple sculls with coxswain (CM4x+) finished in a time of 23:53.24
Closest final… Greece’s women’s quadruple sculls with coxswain (CW4x+) won by just 0.06 of a second with the top five boats all within one second of each other.
Race distance … 4km for the heats. 6km for the finals.

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And some advice
Doing a buoy turn in a coxed quad … “Go as close to the buoy as possible. Keep the inside oars firmly squared in the water and make very fast, aggressive strokes with the outside oars, approximately 50 strokes per minute.” – Pora Geroua
Tips off the start line … “get out of the crowd!” – Sergio Viacava

Plus a couple of quotes
“We need some rough to spice it up.”
“The race was good and I got my layout fine even though the waves by a motor boat created problems for me.” – Monika Dukarska (IRL), silver in the women’s solo.

Where will the World Rowing Coastal Championships be in 2019?
From 2 to 3 November in Hong Kong, China.

And 2018?
From 20-21 October. Venue still to be determined.

The Coastal Championships (in French)

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Day 1 of the World Rowing Coastal Championships here.

Day 2 of the World Rowing Coastal Championships here.

Day 3 of the World Rowing Coastal Championships here.

The year that was … coastal rowing

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