Coastal rowing goes Asian with first Asian championships

Rowers from Thailand dominated the competition of 400 rowers from nine Asian nations. Thai crews claimed gold in four of the six events (men’s solo, women’s solo, men’s double sculls and women’s coxed quadruple sculls) as well as bronze in the women’s double sculls.

While Thailand took the lion’s share of golds, Chinese crews were in hot pursuit and posted impressive results with a medal in every race, including gold in the women’s double sculls and a remarkable double podium of gold and silver in the men’s coxed quad.

“Despite the cold air and strong waves, the athletes showed excellent sportsmanship, dashing and manoeuvring through the waves, fighting for victory and glory,” says Tim Feng of the Chinese Rowing Association.

Shenzhen proved an ideal location for staging this exciting event with more than simply coastal rowing on offer. “in addition to the [regatta], a beach carnival was also held,” says Feng, “featuring participation in popular beach activities.” Around 1000 young and mature rowers also turned up to take part in ergo competitions set up in conjunction with the main regatta.

Founded in 1979 as one of China’s early windows to the world, Shenzhen is among the world’s fastest growing cities and thus a fitting venue for this major event, one of the sport’s fastest growing disciplines. The Chinese Rowing Association is similarly looking forward to continue pushing forward the growth of all forms of rowing under the direction of new federation president, Aijie Liu and secretary general, Yongming Li.

The great success of these inaugural Asian Rowing Coastal Championships is a feather in the cap for the Chinese Rowing Association and a good sign of what the world can expect when the 2019 World Rowing Coastal Championships take place in nearby Hong Kong. Hong Kong will also play host to next year’s 2018 Asian Rowing Coastal Championships.

Top three results in each event:

Men’s Single:     THA, CHN, PHI

Women’s Single:              THA, CHN, MDV

Men’s Double Sculls:       THA, INA, CHN

Women’s Double Sculls:                CHN, KOR, THA

Men’s Coxed Quadruple Sculls:  CHN, CHN, KOR

Women’s Coxed Quadruple Sculls:           THA, CHN, KOR  

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