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View of the regatta course during trainig hours on Wednesday morning at the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup in Penrith near Sydney, Australia.

The countdown to the first World Rowing Cup for the 2014 season in Sydney, Australia has begun with 100 days to go.

Ready to be staged from 28 – 30 March 2014, World Rowing Cup I is going to Sydney for the second time. In March this year Sydney played host to the event with a number of crews travelling the distance to start off their season down under.

The March regatta date means that rowers will enjoy late summer conditions in Sydney and if 2013 was anything to go by the temperatures are likely to be hot and balmy.

The regatta will be at the Sydney International Regatta Centre in Penrith which is about an hour and a half outside of Sydney. The regatta course is best known for being the venue for the Sydney 2000 Olympic rowing regatta.

Australian national team trials have just been completed at Penrith and the trials included a number of athletes who raced at the London Olympics. Out of these trials one athlete, Kim Crow has been granted pre-selection to the Australian rowing team. Crow will race the 2014 season in the event that she is currently the World Champion – the women's single sculls.

In a similar vein to 2013, the week before the World Rowing Cup starts the Sydney International Regatta Centre will host a rowing festival that includes the Australian Open Rowing Championships, the Australian Open Schools Rowing Championships and the Kings and Queen's Cup Interstate Regatta. The festival will start on 23 March 2014.

Website: http://www.rowingdownunder.org/