European nations meet in Plovdiv
In its fifth year, the reinstated European Rowing Championships is off to Plovdiv,
Bulgaria’s second-biggest city and one of the most ancient cities in the world, known for
its picturesque beauty and numerous archaeological sites.
and Turkey. Each year Bulgaria holds their national
championships as well as other large regattas there.
The Plovdiv regatta course is best remembered for
the 1999 World Rowing Junior Championships when
absolutely calm, warm waters caused numerous junior
World Best Times to be set – some of which have not
been broken since.
eight lanes across. Close to the city centre of Plovdiv
and to public transport, it is part of a sporting complex
that includes a 70,000-seat stadium, a tennis club and
recreational facilities, including cafes and restaurants
frequented by Plovdiv locals.
The European Rowing Championships is open to the
43 European national rowing federations, including
Israel. The championships programme comprises
the 14 Olympic boat classes and last year Germany
finished at the top of the medals table ahead of
regular top performers, Greece.
Chief consultant on the Plovdiv course design
and FISA Events Director, Svetla Otzetova notes:
“The location of the course was estimated very
precisely to be surrounded by the natural forests,
offering fair and equal conditions in all lanes. In
addition to that the direction of the course is east/
west, which is parallel to the direction of the prevailing
winds.”
The Bulgarian national team regularly use Plovdiv
for training camps and several rowing clubs are
located there. Bulgaria’s most successful rower
Rumyana Neykova is not currently rowing, but the
country has some new, young talent coming through
that will feature at these championships. They
include Georgi Bozhilov, Luiza-Mariya Rusinova and
Kristina Boncheva.
Also featuring for the first time this year is the
European Rowing Junior Championships which will
be held in Kruszewica, Poland from 24 – 26 June.
● M.S.B.
The rowing course was built in 1988 on an
artificial canal and is 2,300m long and
The venue has also been used at various times by
international teams from Canada, Russia, Belarus
Regatta venue in Plovdiv, Bulgaria,
to host the 2011 European
Rowing Championships.
