The 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships wrapped up four days of racing on France's Lac du Causse near Brive-la-Gaillarde, with finals being contested in perfect rowing conditions in which athletes showed their thorough preparation by handling the high temperatures well.
These finals meant a chance for athletes not just to win World Championship medals, but to earn places for their country at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG), to be held in 2010 in Singapore. The YOG qualification opportunity attracted a record number of rowers: 783 from 65 countries and, in a similar fashion to 2008, Germany led the way. At the end of the 13 events Germany had won seven gold medals and established themselves as the dominant contender for the Youth Olympics.
Providing one of the special moments of the day, single sculler Felix Bach of Germany was overwhelmed by his unexpected win. Like many of these athletes, Bach is competing at his first World Rowing Junior Championships. Bach came out last at the start of the race and through controlled determination managed to work his way through to a gold medal.
Serbia's men's pair of Igor Lucic and Luka Djordjevic clocked one of the fastest times of the day in the men's pair and set themselves up for a grand future in rowing. But perhaps the celebration of Italy's third place in the men's eight will be the biggest memory. They exemplified the unbridled spirit of junior rowing.
Complete race reports, quotes from medallists, results and photographs can be found on www.worldrowing.com.
The next event on the World Rowing calendar is the World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland. This highlight of the rowing season runs from 23 - 30 August 2009.
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