Amsterdam, The Netherlands 21 – 24 July 2005 A record number of 51 nations represented by over 700 athletes in 19 events have entered the 2005 World Rowing Under 23 Championships on the Bosbaan International Regatta Course in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Formerly known as the Nation’s Cup and the Match des Seniors, this is the first time that the Under 23 regatta has ?World Rowing Championship? status. The event acts as a stepping stone for athletes on their way to elite status who have advanced from junior status, but are still developing their skills. Many of these young athletes have already taken part in several Rowing World Cup events this season, and some were already part of the Under 23 field in 2004.
The lightweight men?s single sculls event has the largest entry with 27 crews. Among them, several athletes raced in this year?s Rowing World Cup regattas. Zac Purchase from Great Britain placed 4th this year on his home soil at the first Rowing World Cup in Eton and improved to a 3rd place podium position in Munich, Germany. He will be joined by Ireland?s Richard Coakley, Bine Pislar from Slovenia and Hiu Fung Law from Hong Kong China who are also Rowing World Cup participants.
Also in the running is 2005 fastest lightweight rower from the Crash-B Indoor rowing event this year Eric Knittel from Germany who will be racing with Falko Nolte in the Men?s double sculls along with 17 other crews from as many countries.
The Women?s quadruple sculls sees the three Brown sisters from Australia, who ranked third in the B-Final in the same boat class in Lucerne last week-end.
Built in 1936, Amsterdam?s Bosbaan rowing course has been the venue for many national and international rowing events. It has recently gone through some heavy renovations which widened the course 32 metres to eight lanes, provided a new finish tower, a new Olympic training centre as well as doubled the size of the boat houses and athlete facilities. The Bosbaan will hold the 2006 World Rowing Junior Championships, a stage of the 2007 BearingPoint Rowing World Cup and is currently bidding to host the 2009 World Rowing Championships.
Visit the official World Rowing website http://www.worldrowing.com, for a full list of entries, a racing timetable as well as an extensive boat class preview. During racing, this website will provide live scoring, race reports, press releases, start lists and full results.
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