By Melissa Bray

Crowds wathcing the races at the Huegelregatta rowing course on Lake Baldeney, Essen, Germany
Lake Baldeney rowing course

Held over two days with heats and finals on both days, the Huegelregatta is seen as a testing ground for coaches and crews preparing for the Rowing World Cup series.

This 94th International Huegelregatta is held every second year, with the event taking place in Duisburg in even years. This year crews from as far away as Venezuela and Canada will be competing.

To get a taste of the season to come the men’s single will feature Slovenians Iztok Cop and Luka Spik, who will also race in their trademark event, the men’s double. Marcel Hacker of Germany, currently number two in the world, and Germany’s Marco Geisler, usually seen winning medals in his country’s quad will also line up. Cop describes this regatta as the first serious test for the season.

The new-look Danish lightweight four, featuring multipoe Olympic and World Champion Eskild Ebbesen, will race in the open men’s four, leaving lightweights Ireland (bronze medallists at last year’s World Rowing Championships) to race against Germany in the lightweight men’s four.

Denmark’s World Champions in the lightweight men’s double, Rasmus Quist and Mads Rasmussen will compete in the open men’s double against Germany’s top combination Robert Sens and Rene Bertram. Also teamed up together in this event, under 23 men’s single Champion, Karsten Brodowski will row with Falko Nolte to test their boat speed against the best.
 

Finish tower at the Hugelregatta, Essen, Germany
Finish tower at the Huegelregatta

Canada’s World Champion women’s pair, Jane Rumball and Darcy Marquardt, will race against two Ukrainian entries and Denmark’s top pair of Lea Jakobsen and Fie Udby.

There is also a full programme of under 23 events and adaptive rowing events including Poland’s world silver medallists, Jolanta Pawlak and Piotr Majka as well as a full team from Israel.

The Huegelregatta is held on a natural rowing course on Lake Baldeney. Organiser Georg Romhanyi has been heading the regatta for 17 years and knows the special construction needed to lay the eight-laned course.

“We have to organise the course just before the race and remove it straight after racing finishes,” says Romhanyi as the region is a popular recreational area used by sailing boats and canoeists.