2012 World Rowing Senior and Junior Championships -

FISA has received a well prepared bid for Plovdiv from the Bulgarian Rowing Federation. Plovdiv was the host of the 1999 World Junior Championships and the organizing committee was led by Ivan Popov, now a vice president of the federation, a former rower and successful businessman in Plovdiv. The venue has many permanent facilities and can hold eight training and seven racing lanes. The course is in line with the nearby river "Maritza" which in turn is in line with the existing prevailing wind. It is located in the center of the city and there are many hotels and hostels very near to the venue supported by an efficient local transport system. The local government is the main supporter and the national government has also confirmed its support.

The FISA Council has reviewed the bid and has met with the leaders of the bid. The Council is satisfied that Plovdiv would be an excellent choice for this event which is a stepping stone to a bid one day for the senior championships.


2011 World Rowing Under 23 Championships -

FISA has received two well prepared bids for this event, one for the Bosbaan in Amsterdam from the Netherlands Rowing Federation and the other for Montemar-o-Velho, Portugal from the Portuguese Rowing Federation. The Council is very positive about the development of rowing in Portugal and the plans for the development of this new venue located in the middle of Portugal, not far from the city of Figueras on the coast. FISA has been consulted on many occasions in the development of this venue and has carefully reviewed all plans for construction of permanent facilities. There are plans for a warming up channel taking crews up to the start and a cooling down pool in order to reserve the eight lane regatta course for racing.

The Bosbaan regatta course has successfully hosted the 2005 World Under 23 championships, the 2006 World Junior Championships and one leg of the 2007 Rowing World Cup. The Bosbaan is situated near to Amsterdam and the accommodation is conveniently located and reasonably priced. The organizing committees are efficient and experienced, ensuring a high quality regatta, as well as a good atmosphere for rowers, coaches, spectators and officials. The Bosbaan, as most of you know, was expanded 30 meters in width several years ago and many new facilities were built to allow it to host major world level events. The message to the government then was that they had to finish the construction first, and then the events would follow.

Council strongly supports the development of new venues and their use for FISA events. However, it is the Council's view and it has been FISA policy, that new venues and renovations should be completed before major events are attributed. This approach allows us to be confident in our commitment to rowers and national federations that conditions at our World Championships will be at the highest level. Whilst FISA is very positive about all the developments in Portugal and will continue to liaise closely with the Portuguese Federation on meeting the proposed time-lines for completion of the course and its facilities, Council considers that it is still too early in the construction phase to award a World Championships to the new venue. Based on the construction schedule, we would encourage the Portuguese Federation to bid again for this event within the next two years.

For the above reasons, the FISA Council supports the bid of the Netherlands Rowing Federation for the Bosbaan for this event.

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