From the largest fresh-water lake on Vancouver Island to the world’s oldest man-made rowing course in The Netherlands.
That’s the travel itinerary for the Canadian Men’s Rowing team, which has been training at Strathcona Park Lodge & Outdoor Education Centre for the past three weeks on Buttle Lake, the largest fresh-water lake on Vancouver Island, for the Aug. 24-31 World Championships in Amsterdam.
The world’s oldest man-made rowing course, the Bosbaan, will stage the championships. Located seven kilometres from the historic city centre of Amsterdam, the Bosbaan was officially opened by Queen Wilhelmina on June 12, 1937.
Built through a social welfare project, the Bosbaan was the venue for several European Rowing Championships in the 1950s and 1960s. The facilities and course were upgraded in the early 1970s to add a spare lane to the six-lane race course.
More than 1,200 athletes will compete at this year’s World Rowing Championships, representing more than 70 countries.
The Canadian team, which is based in London, Ont. (women and lightweights) and Victoria, B.C. (men) will be leaving shortly for a pre-worlds training camp in Italy.
With exactly two years remaining until the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, countries are jockeying for supremacy in the coveted 14 Olympic class rowing events. This year, Canada’s team has entries slotted for nine Olympic class events and two international class events.
Live blogging, race reports and photo galleries will be published daily throughout the regatta, and live video streaming will be available for the Olympic finals from Aug. 28 to 31 inclusive on www.worldrowing.com.
B.C. competitors on the Canadian teams going to the Worlds include:
Lisa Roman (Langley), Rosie DeBoef (Victoria), Lauren Wilkinson (North Vancouver) women’s eight; Antje von Seydlitz-Kurzbach (Smithers) women’s quadruple sculls; Kristin Bauder (Langley) women’s four; Lindsay Jennerich (Victoria), Patricia Obee (Victoria) lightweight women double sculls; Teresa Berkholtz (Victoria) lightweight women single scull;
Kai Langerfeld (North Vancouver), men’s four; Michael Braithwaite (Duncan), Will Dean (Kelowna) men’s quadruple sculls; Brendan Hodge (Delta), Max Lattimer (Delta), Evan Cheng (Vancouver) lightweight men’s four; Alexander Walker (Victoria) lightweight men’s double sculls; Michael Wilkinson (North Vancouver) men’s double sculls.
