The beginnings of rowing in Slovenia go back to the year 1887 when the first rowing club was founded in the coastal town of Piran/Pirano, Club Piranese Salvore. Only a year later the S.C.Libertas was founded in the nearby Koper/Capodistria. Competitive rowing later emerged in the capital Ljubljana as well as Bled.
Rowers were also the first athletes to win medals for independent Slovenia at the World Rowing Championships in Vienna in 1991 and at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, thereby spreading the reputation of Slovenian sports and affirming the new country around the world. Despite the relatively small number of rowers in Slovenia, they have won international fame as individuals as well as teams. The most prominent figures are undoubtedly Iztok Čop and Luka Špik. Čop (in the coxless pair with Denis Žvegelj) was one of the 1992 Olympic heroes, who later won the World Rowing Championships title in the single sculls in 1995 and in 2000
together with Luka Špik - added the Olympic gold. He has been awarded the title of the most successful Slovenian athlete in recent history.
Why 2011
Because Bled has a lot of experience and one of the most beautiful rowing courses in the world with equal conditions for all competitors. The 2011 World Rowing Championships will also be a qualifying tournament for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. As Bled prepares for the World Rowing Championships, the traditional rowing centre built in the 1950s is being upgraded to meet the standards of the event and to improve the training conditions for both national and international athletes.
Bled
With its beautiful natural surroundings, Bled is a jewel among the Alpine resorts and is widely known for its mild curative climate and the thermal lake water. In 2004 Bled celebrated an important anniversary: 1,000 years since the first mention of Bled - in the deed of gift with which Henry II bestowed Bled and its surroundings on the diocese of Brixen.
SOURCE: The Slovenia Times, Bled
