The 2024 World Rowing Senior, under 23 and under 19 Championships concluded on 25 August in St. Catharines, Canada. This combined event has attracted over 1179 athletes from 58 countries, who competed over eight days of racing.
The World Rowing Development Programme, the solidarity programme that has been an integral part of the Development activities offered by World Rowing with the valuable support of the event Organising Committees, included 62 participating athletes and coaches, from 16 countries and competing in 37 crews and boat classes in seniors, U23 and U19:
El Salvador- Finland- Guatemala- Honduras- Latvia- Moldova- Paraguay- Peru- Portugal- Singapore- Slovenia- South Africa- Thailand- Tunisia – Uruguay- Zambia.
The Development Programme was supported by a worldwide team of coaches consisting of Ruben Scarpati, Chrissa Biskitzi, and Janine Stephens; together with the World Rowing Youth Commission chair and members, Axel Muller, Mehdi Garidi and Zhon Ming Huang; who collaborated together under the guidance of World Rowing Head of Coaching Gianni Postiglione.
Everyone performed to the best of their abilities and by the end of the championships, 4 crews from the Development Programme participants reached podium from Peru (LW2x, silver), Paraguay (LM2-, silver), Moldova (LM2-, bronze), and South Africa (JW1x, silver), confirming that the long term sustainability and consistency of the Development Programme has bear fruit; and give encouragement to all smaller countries, that development and progress happens with long term goals and consistent development. The improved performance level of the Development Programme crews was witnessed and commended by the World Rowing community, with crews moving up the ranking lists.
World Rowing Development Programme also offers the space for coaches to come together and exchange thoughts and ideas on the best practices and challenges faced. It gives support to the coaches to keep growing their skills and provide a safe space for meaningful exchange between the various coaches and the World Rowing team.
The 2024 U19 championships witnessed the debut of crews from Honduras and Zambia with full support from the World Rowing Youth Commission’s masters fund, enabling these young athletes to taste the Worlds and start their high-performance journey.
Support with equipment was offered by boat builders including Filippi, Hudson and Empacher. The programme also received valuable support and collaboration from the St. Catharines Rowing Club.
Following their last race of the competition, rowers went through the 2k ergo test. This is an objective way to understand how the rowers progress physiologically year by year.
The efforts of the participating teams were celebrated and donations from Rowing Canada Aviron and NK Sports SpeedCoach were offered to the outstanding athletes who showed improvement and good performance throughout the week.
The support offered by the Organising Committee from the planning till the implementation of the Development Progamme for the 2024 World Rowing Senior, U23 and U19 Championships was invaluable and greatly appreciated. It was another successful programme and we are thankful for all the efforts exerted by everyone involved in the programme and look forward to working to continue the success with future hosts and event organisers.