Masters rowing time for Bled

When the former president of World Rowing, the late Thomi Keller saw Lake Bled he exclaimed; “God must have been a rower”.

Bled, Slovenia is one of the favourite spots for rowers from throughout the world and coming up Bled will be hosting not one, but two masters events – the 2025 Euro Masters and the 2026 World Rowing Masters Regatta.

Jernej Slivnik is the Executive Director of the Bled Organising Committee and he has overseen a number of international rowing events over the last 15 years including the 2011 World Rowing Championships. Slivnik agrees entirely with Thomi Keller’s words with Lake Bled being just over 2km long and with an island possessing a pilgrimage Church at exactly 500m to go.

“It is one of the most beautiful venues in the world and offers very fair conditions on the water with light winds.”

The appeal of Bled is already known by masters rowers. In 2017 the World Rowing Masters Regatta took place at it remains to this day as the biggest ever masters regatta. 4,700 rowers took part from 860 rowing clubs with 18,000 seats raced. This equalled more than 900 races and with so many races to take place over the five days of racing, a new race start had to happen every three minutes. They went from 7am until dusk most days.

The entries, Slivnik remembers were pouring in and he admits at the time it was stressful.

“But we managed to prepare the venue perfectly and controlled the flows of athletes, boats and vehicles very well. My house is located just above the boathouse area and I will always remember the sea of boats on the big meadow underneath – nearly 2500 boats and more than 200 trailers.”

In June, Bled will welcome the 2025 Euro Masters and Slivnik stresses that rowers from outside of Europe are also welcome. “Hopefully in big numbers,” says Slivnik. “I’m expecting at least 2000 participants this year.”

And new this year: “On the field of play we’re introducing the AA age category for rowers between the ages of 21-27. There is also the Jutta Deuschl Single Trophy, a kind of a super final race in every age category of single sculls.”

Slivnik says everything is running smoothly for the event scheduled for 19 – 22 June 2025.

“The number of entries is growing day by day, it’s very exciting. We’ll be closing entries on 21 May, so there’s plenty of time to register and organise your travels. Hotel and boat rental reservations are all available.

“Also thanks to our close relation with Mayor of Bled and funding from Ministry of economy, tourism and sports we’ve managed to completely renovate outgoing and incoming pontoons. These were built for our first major international event – 1956 European Rowing Championships.”

The Bled organisers plan to continue to host big events and Slivnik says they have a special fondness for masters events.

“It’s a more relaxed atmosphere and participants are able to enjoy the destination more. It’s also great to see the returning rowers, the ones that have competed in 1966, 1979, 1989 and the 2011 World Rowing Championships.”

For next year’s World Rowing Masters Regatta Slivnik is expecting it to be as big, or bigger, than 2017.

“We’ll have an extra day this time so it could be even bigger. In partnership with Bled and Slovenian Tourist Boards we’ll also focus on the wellbeing of the participants and festivalisation of the event – not only at the venue but also in the town center and at the castle. We’ll have a food market, wine, schnaps and beer tasting, traditional Alpine dances, live music and much more.”

Slivnik also stresses the emphasis is on sustainability with zero waste, electrical vehicles and launches, drinking tap water, to name a few.

Join the 2025 Euro Masters Regatta powered by I feel Slovenia
19–22 June 2025 | Bled, Slovenia

Use this as a taster for the 2026 World Rowing Masters Regatta, taking place in Bled from 9–13 September 2026.

Email: info@bledrowing.com
Website: https://www.bledrowing.com/