More than 950 athletes will take part in the World Rowing Senior and Junior Championships in Linz/Ottensheim, Austria, from Tuesday 22 July to Sunday 27 July 2008. Hailing from 55 countries, the athletes will race in more than 300 boats.
With 2008 being an Olympic year, the World Rowing Championships offers non-Olympic boat classes only and is combined with the World Rowing Junior Championships .
The senior regatta sees nearly 300 athletes competing in eight events. The lightweight men's single sculls has the largest number of entries with 26 contenders. New Zealand's Duncan Grant, World Champion in 2007, and Jaap Schouten of the Netherlands, winner of the 2008 Rowing World Cup series, will both be vying for gold. An experienced field of twenty nations will compete in the lightweight women's single sculls. Based on results recorded this season, Canada's Lindsay Jennerich is likely to be the strongest gold medal contender, with runners-up Sinead Jennings of Ireland and local hope Michaela Taupe-Traer.
The junior regatta has attracted nearly 650 competitors (two-thirds of them boys) in 13 events. Last summer's World Rowing Junior Championships attracted much media attention as the test event for the Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The Chinese dominated the regatta, winning gold in six of the 13 events having never previously won a junior gold medal. Germany came second with a total of three golds. In the absence of China this year, it is Germany's opportunity to prove their standing as one of the best nations in junior rowing; having entered crews in each event, they have a good chance to finish on top of the medals table. Bulgaria is sending reigning junior world champion in the men's single, Aleksandar Aleksandrov, to repeat his Beijing performance, while Romania, well-known for its strength in the women's eight, will once again be aiming for the title. Great Britain, with eleven entries, will try to improve on last year's overall fourth-place ranking.
The Linz/Ottensheim regatta course was built back in 1972 on an arm of the Danube River. Recent renovations and dredging has widened the course to eight lanes, bringing it up to international regatta standard. Last year's Rowing World Cup was the first FISA-sanctioned event held on this course since 1998 and was the test event for this year's World Rowing Championships.
Located in upper Austria, Linz is the third largest city of Austria and the countries' second largest economic centre. Ottensheim itself is one of the most popular recreational areas around Linz and offers numerous outdoor activities such as cycling, skating, hiking and, of course, rowing. Its rich history as one of the most important trade routes to Bohemia as well as several archaeological discoveries dating back 4000 years make this small town an interesting place to visit.
Live scoring, race reports, results and a photo gallery will be available throughout the regatta on www.worldrowing.com.
A full list of entries and an updated provisional timetable can be consulted here.