The rowing competition at the European Universities Games Zagreb – Rijeka 2016 started in the morning sunshine at 10.00 hours on Tuesday, July 12.
Beginning right on time, women’s Single Scull – Leight teams (1 x LW) were competing first. Rowing the 2000 meters lane in 8 minutes and 13 seconds, the Institute of Lorraine Champagne Ardenne from France won the first race of the day.
For practical reasons, all athletes are equipped with sunglasses and hats. As the Portuguese coach Ricardo Cardoso from the University of Porto explains, the heat can definitely influence the athletes’ results: ‘We are not used to this humidity, so hydration is very important.’ Therefore, athletes spend most of their time in the shadow.
So far, the competition is very cheerful. Coaches and athletes support their teams by running and cycling along the lake. Andrea Milardović, coming from the University of Zagreb, is cheering for her double sculls men crew: ‘I am very excited. Even if Dino Rupčić and Tomislav Rubinjoni trained together only for one month, I hope they win a medal.’
With a total of 60 rowers, Germany has the highest amount of participants in rowing. The German coach Soeren Dannhauer admits: ‘We came with about 20 coaches to win as many titles as possible.’ Last year, German universities had good results at the European Championship 2015 which were held in Hannover, Germany.
While some athletes came here with their own boats, others cannot afford the transport due to financial reasons. The men’s eights crew from Denmark is renting boats from Croatia.
As a matter of fact, the Danish crew has had bad luck: ‘Our rented boat got broken in a car accident! Now, we are waiting for a new one’, tells coach Gorm Rasmussen.
Results
foto: Igor Kralj/Pixell
