Rowing's Future Stars prepare for the 2006 World Rowing
Junior Championships
The up and coming of World Rowing are in their final preparation
for this year's World Rowing Junior Championships which will
take place on the Bosbaan regatta course in Amsterdam, The
Netherlands from 2 to 5 August 2006.
More than 650 athletes in 220 boats representing 52 nations
have entered for the pinnacle event of junior rowing and will
defend their respective national colours in each of the 13
events of the Junior championships' racing programme. Germany
has entered the largest team with 48 athletes making it the
only nation to have boats racing in each event, showing that
Germany has some promising years ahead.
The most popular event at this year's championships is the
men's double scull, which can pride itself on a 28-strong
boat entry. Among them, a Slovenian crew featuring Jan Spik,
the younger brother of Luka Spik who was awarded the 2005
World Rowing men's crew of the year. This will be Jan's third
participation in the World Rowing Junior Championships and
will be another chance to show the Spik family's rowing talent.
This regatta also features participation from 15 countries
supported by the FISA Development Programme. It is a first
time participation for Bolivia with male single sculler Raffaele
Morgantini. It is also the first time that the Islamic Republic
of Iran whose men and women's single scullers will each double
up in the men and women's double sculling event, will take
part in a World Rowing competition.
In preparation for this event, several of the developing
rowing nations have been given the opportunity to take part
in a training camp organised by the Royal Dutch Rowing Federation
and hosted by local clubs in and around Amsterdam. The camp
included Egypt, Iran, Paraguay, Uruguay, Israel, Tunisia,
Zimbabwe, Indonesia and Georgia.
To compete in the World Rowing Junior Championships, rowers
must be no older than 18 years. An athlete is considered to
be a junior until 31 December of the year in which s/he reaches
the age of 18. After that date s/he shall be classified an
Under 23 rower.
The development programme is partly supported by FISA's World
Rowing Masters Regatta. With each entry at this regatta, 1
Euro from the entry fee goes to support the development of
youth rowing. In 2005, the World Rowing Masters Regatta collected
over Euros 5'000.00.
The 2006 World Rowing Junior Championships will take place
on the Bosbaan Regatta course in the Amsterdam forrest, in
the southern part of the city, not far from the airport. The
venue hosted last year's World Rowing Under 23 Championships,
and will be host to the second stage of the 2008 Rowing World
Cup. Built in 1936, Amsterdam's Bosbaan has recently gone
through some extensive renovations including a widening of
the course to eight lanes, construction of a new finish tower
and a new Olympic training centre as well as a doubling of
the size of the boathouses and athlete facilities.
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