9th World University Rowing Championship
Trakai, Lithuania - August 11th to 13th, 2006
A First in Lithuania
The FISU spirit prevailed for this first World University Championship organized with great pride and enthusiasm by Lithuania.
The Lithuanian University Sports Association (LSSA), which has been a member of FISU since 1993, is organizing its first World University Championship this year. It's always hard to choose a discipline for this kind of initiation but with rowing, it seems that the "LSSA" has hit the bull's-eye. This is a sport that has always attracted a large number of participants at the WUC and the town chosen, Trakai, has a magnificent infrastructure exclusively for water sports.
Trakai is a fortified town in southern Lithuania with unique character due to the totally authentic environment. The beauty and variety of the landscapes around Trakai make it a real haven of tranquillity. Water is everywhere. The region has some 290 lakes, which some people say is why the town is so enthusiastic about water sports and particularly rowing. Since 1928, the town has organized competition in this sport every year and it is no accident if Lithuanian rowers have collected about 130 medals at the Olympic Games. Today, Trakai has a very modern infrastructure for rowing meets on Galve Lake. The pool is more than 2 km long with seven water lanes corresponding to international standards in the discipline since it has already been used for the Junior World Championships of the International Rowing Federation (FISA).
Once again, delegations flocked to Trakai, as 259 men and 99 women from 26 countries joined the competition. For that matter, the Lithuanians were attentive to every detail in making this first championship a magnificent success. The Opening Ceremony could have been used as a model – participants attended it in an old fortified castle that gave the ceremony a very special feeling. The pride and enthusiasm of the authorities present were communicative as they went out of their way to give warmth and conviviality to their welcome, so that this university competition would really correspond to the FISU spirit.
The championship was a great success, despite a few logistic concerns that always come with doing something for the first time, and all the participants felt particularly pampered. For that matter, volunteers in large numbers did everything they could to support the delegations in every way.
From the sports standpoint, we noted a very small drop in participation as compared to previous editions, due to the late withdrawal of certain countries. Connections with Lithuania, which were not always easy it must be admitted, were not a real obstacle to participation. In the opinion of our technical delegate for rowing, Mr. Lionel Girard (FRA), the general level of participants is on the rise, despite the fact that some stars in the discipline were not in attendance at Trakai. The previous edition that was held in France in 2004 attracted a large number of athletes that had just taken part in the Athens Olympic Games. So this time, there were fewer stars, but the races still attracted a good number. The example of the finals for the “eights” is symptomatic – the three first places came in within one second of each other, which is exceptional. There are no weak countries anymore and the difference between the best is getting smaller and smaller. It's also true that today the World University Rowing Championships are organized very regularly (every two years now, which was not always the case – far from it) and the International Rowing Federation (FISA) has realized how important they are, so it tends to treat this event like a full-fledged competition on its calendar. For that matter, it is about to sign an agreement with FISU to insure promotion of rowing at university level. A similar convention has already been concluded between FISU and the International Archery Federation - FITA- as well as the World Karate Federation - WKF).
We meet again in Belgrade in 2008 for the 10th World University Rowing Championship and again in the same town in 2009 since rowing has been included in the Belgrade Universiade as an optional sport.
Organizing Committee
Lithuanian Rowing Federation Zemaites 6, LT 03117 Vilnius Lithuania Phone: ++(370.5)2133154 Fax: ++(370.5)2133154 e-mail: inga.lif@mail.lt URL: www.lif.lt/wuc2006/
FISU Technical Chairman
NEWS
Events
Men: 2000m - Single Sculls(1x), - Double Sculls(2x), - Coxless Pair (2-), - Coxless Four (4-), - Eight (8+) . Lightweight Men: 2000m - Single Sculls(1x), - Double Sculls(2x), - Coxless Four (4-). Women: 2000m - Single Sculls(1x), - Double Sculls(2x), - Coxless Four (4-). Lightweight Women: 2000m - Single Sculls(1x), - Double Sculls(2x).
Statistics
Countries: 26 Male Athletes: 259 Female Athletes: 99 Officials: 115 Total: 473
Results
Rowing06-Results-1108
WUC Rowing 2006: Results - 11/08/2006
Rowing06-Startlists-1108
WUC Rowing 2006: Start Lists - 11/08/2006
Rowing06-Startlists-1208
WUC Rowing 2006: Start Lists - 12/08/2006
Rowing06-Results-1208
WUC Rowing 2006: Results - 12/08/2006
Rowing06-Startlists-1308
WUC Rowing 2006: Start Lists - 13/08/2006
Rowing06-Results-1308
WUC Rowing 2006: Final Results - 13/08/2006
