Veteran championship brought record number of rowers to Bled
Bled – This year’s World Rowing Masters Regatta that took place on Slovenia’s Bled Lake featured more than 4,700 rowers from 46 countries, who competed in almost 1,000 races. In terms of attendance, the event significantly exceeded the previous championship in Italy in 2013.
“The championship in Italy in 2013 was attended by slightly less than 4,000 rowers, which means that this year’s championship is quite a jump in terms of size”, Tim Farčnik, the head of the organising committee of the 2017 World Rowing Masters Regatta, told the press.
Bled hosted the veteran world rowing championship for the third time after 1986 and 1995 and this year’s event is understood as a reward of sorts for the organisation of the World Rowing Championship in 2011, the World Cups in 2010 and 2015 and the European Youth Championship in 2012, the organisers believe.
The championship featured rowers older than 27, former professional rowers and recreational rowers. It also featured around 1,500 of additional staff, which means that hotels in the area operated at full capacity.
The races hosted three members of the Slovenian coxless four team which won a bronze medal at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics – Milan Janša, Sadik Mujkić and Jani Klemenčič. The deceased Sašo Mirjanič was replaced by Denis Žvegelj.
