2005 BearingPoint Rowing World Cup Final
Lucerne, Switzerland – 8 – 10 July 2005
More than 700 athletes (492 men and 248 women) have entered
the final stage of the 2005 BearingPoint Rowing World Cup
series which will be held from 8 to 10 July on the Rotsee
Lake in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Coming from 42 countries, the 280 crews will take part in
all 14 World Cup events, as well as eight International events.
The highest number of crews has been entered in the men’s
single sculls, where 26 athletes will take on the crème
de la crème of current single sculling: Germany’s
Marcel Hacker and Olaf Tufte from Norway. But Germany is testing
out a new sculler this time around: Steffen Petz.
Germany and Great Britain again share the highest entry rate
in Lucerne. With 25 crews in 17 boat classes, it is likely
that Germany will earn the necessary points to win the overall
cup. Germany is currently leading the points table with 98
points, but with 20 crews entered in 18 of the 22 events,
Great Britain could catch up their 21 point deficit.
With the World Rowing Championships taking place in Gifu,
Japan in August and the new Olympic quadrennium leading up
to Beijing, the final BearingPoint Rowing World Cup is showing
a noticeably high turnout of Asian crews (26), from Hong Kong
China, Korea, China and, of course, Japan. The Asian influence
will be felt particularly in the women’s eight, where
18 young Chinese rowers will take on a strong field. China
won gold earlier this season in Eton, but they will now face
a strong Dutch contingent which includes six Athens bronze
medallists.
The women’s single will again go ahead without Bulgaria’s
Rumyana Neykova who is going for hat trick in the double with
her partner Miglena Markova. However, with the Evers-Swindell
twins back in the double after a solo stint in Munich, will
the Bulgarians miss out on gold medal number three? Whatever
happens, Bulgaria still heads the points chart in the double,
but this will probably not be enough to justify giving up
the fight just yet.
To finish off the series of charity races which have been
organised throughout the BearingPoint Rowing World Cup season,
Lucerne has brought together 24 of the great rowing legends
who will race in two specially-made 12 person boats to raise
awareness for the “Right to Play” foundation whose
aim is to improve living conditions for children in the developing
world by introducing sport and games to their everyday life.
Visit www.righttoplay.com.
The BearingPoint Rowing World Cup is a series of three regattas.
Points are awarded to the 7 first placing boats in the 14
World Cup events. A yellow bib is worn by the leader in each
event. The overall winner of the BearingPoint Rowing World
Cup is determined after the final regatta in Lucerne.
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