2012 Zurich City Sprint Regatta

Photo: FISA

Here is a press release from FISA on the 2012 Zurich City Sprint Regatta, last Saturday.

Top international crews from the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland took part in the regatta in the four boat classes on the international programme: the men’s single sculls, the women’s single sculls, the lightweight men’s four and the men’s quadruple sculls.  


Switzerland’s Olympic lightweight men’s four of Mario Gyr, Simon Niepmann, Valentin Gmelin and Simon Schürch were the strongest crew in the Round Robins, winning three of the three races that they competed in. In the A-final, however, the Czech crew of Miroslav Vrasti, Martin Slavik, Ondrej and Jan Vetesnik took the upper hand and, in the tightest race of the day, finished one hundredth of a second ahead of Switzerland in gold, to the great disappointment of the local crowd. “It was fun,” said Jan Vetesnik of the Czech Republic. “We enjoyed racing, and the city is beautiful. The racing was not about style or technique but big muscles and power so it worked for us and we did it - we won! We haven’t trained as a four since the Olympics – this was fun, and we hope to race again next year.’



Germany and the Czech Republic qualified for the A-final in the men’s quadruple sculls. The German crew, including World Champions Eric Knittel and Stefan Krueger raced to the line, claiming gold less than one second ahead of the Czechs. German athlete Mathias Rocher said: “It was very nice and it was a great experience for us. The sprint format is great – it’s free for the audience, everyone can watch and I think it will do good things for rowing.

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In the men’s single sculls, Switzerland’s David Aregger and Germany’s Marcel Hacker finished with an equal score in the Round Robins – two points each. Aregger, aged 22, has been competing internationally at the junior and under-23 levels since 2008, while Hacker is a four-time Olympian and Olympic bronze medallist. The two athletes went head to head, finishing just a bit more than one second apart in the A-final, with Hacker claiming the gold medal. “It’s a nice format,” said Hacker. “It’s very short, close finishes and interesting racing. I like Zurich as a venue – it is so close to the city and even though it’s raining, there are so many people. I like it. The race was very short, so I had to concentrate for the final. I had the luck to win.

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Mirka Knapkova is the 2012 Olympic Champion in the women’s single sculls. Here in Zurich she competed against experienced scullers Chantal Achterberg from the Netherlands (2012 Olympic bronze medallist in the women’s eight), Julia Lier from Germany (three-time under-23 World Champion and two-time junior World Champion) as well as Switzerland’s Jeannine Gmelin. Knapkova, Achterberg and Lier won two points each in the Round Robins, with the fastest times going to Knapkova and Achterberg. In the A-final, Knapkova finished a full two seconds ahead of Achterberg in first. Winner Knapkova said: “It was fun. It’s so different from normal racing so I really enjoyed it. I’d like to race again next year. This is my second sprint regatta. It’s short and rowing in the city can maybe be more objective for the public.

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The universities of St. Petersburg and Zurich as well as the Swiss Federal Institutes of Zurich and Lausanne lined up to race each other for the Thomas Keller invitational university men’s eight challenge. St. Petersburg University won each of the three Round Robins it competed in, with the University of Zurich winning two. In the A-final, St. Petersburg just managed to cross the line in first, less than one second ahead of Zurich.



The University of Zurich and the Federal Institute of Technology of Zurich (ETHZ) went back to the start line one hour later to compete yet again in the “Uni / Poly Rudermatch” men’s eight challenge. In the 61st traditional university race that these two establishments have staged annually since 1945, the University of Zurich beat the Federal Institute of Technology to the line, bringing the historical ranking to 24 wins total for the university and 35 for ETHZ.



The 2012 Zurich City Sprints is part of a concept of city sprint regattas intended to develop into a sprint series sanctioned by FISA over the coming years. “Our aim is to bring the sport of rowing to the centre of cities, to the public,” explains FISA Executive Director Matt Smith. “By organising the 2012 Zurich City Sprints, we hope to establish a new, first-class international sports event in Switzerland.”


Here are the results (different links depending on which results you are looking for). Below is a short video clip how it looked last year, in St. Petersburg:

Golden Blades Of St. Petersburg

After some days of Indian Summer, we seem to have many gloomy days ahead of us here in New England. This makes me look back at the summer and some of the wonderful rowing races and regattas. One of the great events that I neglected to write about or even mention on HTBS, was the Russian ‘Golden Blades of St. Petersburg’. These 250-metre sprint races on 12 June, 2011, in the centre of the beautiful city, had several international athletes present.

The competitors were rowing in match races, ‘Henley style’, to be able to come up with the two finalists who were rowing for a ‘cup’. The Swede, Frida Svensson, who then was the reigning World Champion in the single sculls, won the Princess Olga Cup by beating the Czech sculler Mirka Knapkova, who later became the World Champion in Bled. The final in the men’s single sculls became an all-Russian affair, where Kleshnev, who had overpowered Mahe Drysdale on his way to the final, defeated Mikhail Fedorov to claim the Peter the Great Cup.

In the men’s eights, St. Petersburg surprisingly overcame Germany in the final. The women’s final was won by the Netherlands ahead of Canada. Hamburg University won the University women’s eights, while St. Petersburg University won the University men’s eights.

The wonderful video on top shows this event conducted under blue skies. It looks lovely, and it seems to have been a successful regatta as it is coming back next summer. Personally, I think that sprint regattas are great events, and if done the ‘Henley style’, with only two boats abreast, they can be raced on rivers and canals in towns and city centres where it is easy for spectators to gather to see world stars competing against each other. The short distance of a ‘sprint’ does not allow the athletes to do any mistakes on the water. I think it is a good way to popularize rowing.