60 years of World Rowing Championships

This year will mark the 60th anniversary of the first World Championships in rowing. Staged on the Rotsee in Lucerne, the inaugural championships event brought out spectators by the thousands to the lake’s shores.

Interest in organising a world championships in rowing was first expressed at the 1955 FISA (now World Rowing) Ordinary Congress in Gand, Belgium. Until then, continental championships had been contested, such as the European Championships, which started in 1893 for men, and 1954 for women.

The FISA President at the time, Gaston Mullegg, theorised that a world championships would help reinforce ties with overseas national federations, who only competed in continental regattas (Pan-American Games, Mediterranean Games, Asian Games, Empire Games, etc). He also wanted to avoid FISA being seen as a “european federation”.

The championships would take place at the end of each quadrennial, with the first being in 1958. The Federation from the United States expressed interest in organising the first edition, which they would hold in Philadelphia. Participation would be by invite only; the top two boats from each boat class at the European championships, the winners from other continental championships, and one boat per boat class from the USA and Canada. The USA offered 250 000 USD to cover travel costs associated with the event.

In December 1956, the Philadelphia venue was not ready and clearly would not be in time for the 1958 world championships. After many discussion within what is now the Technical Commission, it was concluded that organising a world championships would require far more rule implementation and testing, which would be impossible before the 1958 deadline. The world championships could not happen before 1962.

In 1958, Gaston Mullegg died tragically in a plane accident. He never saw his vision of a world championships come to life. He was succeeded by a young Thomas Keller, who would hold the presidency until his own death in 1989.

Three cities had bid on the 1962 world championships: Ballarat in Australia, Bagsvaerd in Denmark, and Lucerne/Rotsee in Switzerland. Before the event was attributed, Denmark bowed out, and endorsed Switzerland as the host, in the understanding they themselves would receive the 1963 European championships. Australia then also withdrew their bid, in hopes they would host the 1966 or 1970 edition of the world championship. The 1962 World Championships in rowing were attributed to Switzerland.

Planning got underway immediately. While the Rotsee (Lucerne) had been host to many european championships, this time, they were preparing to welcome the world.

The first FISA Men’s Championships were held in Lucerne, on September 6th to 9th, 1962. A total of 25 nations were represented across 107 boats by 405 rowers. Of the 7 events contested, West Germany won all but the two sculling disciplines.

The last day of the event attracted 45 000 people to the shores of the Rotsee. A dinner and ball was hosted on the last night where each of the winners received their World Champion diplomas. For Thomas Keller, the event had been “a complete success”.

The next three editions of the world championships took place every four years; Bled 1966, St Catharines 1970, and Lucerne 1974, when they then switched to be a yearly event.

The 1966 world championships had four cities that bid for it. The event went to Bled, in the former Yugoslavia, which had won narrowly over Vichy (France), Essen, and Duisburg (both in Germany). Around 425 members of the press attended the second world championships, with nearly half of them coming from outside the host nation.

At the 1971 FISA Congress, it was announced that the 1974 world championships in Lucerne would be the first time the women’s world championships were held. The women’s European championships had already been happening since 1954.

In 1977, the women’s world championships were held at the same time as the men’s in Amsterdam, as opposed to the week before or after, as they had since 1974.

The FISA lightweight world championships were created in 1974, with women’s lightweight events added in 1985.

Para events were contested for the first time at the 2002 World Rowing Championships in Sevilla, Spain.

The cancellations of the 2020 and 2021 World Rowing Championships due to the ongoing global pandemic were the first time the event was cancelled.

The 2022 World Rowing Championships will take place 18-25 September, 2022 in Racice, Czech Republic. Entries will be released 7 September at 12:00 CET

Interested in learning more about World Rowing’s history? Head over to our history page, where you will find interviews with former international rowers, the 1992 FISA Centenary book, Volumes 1-4 of Peter Mallory’s The Sport of Rowing, and much more.

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