PHOTO AND STORY COURTESY WORLD ROWING
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Over 950 rowers from around the world have descended on Belgrade, Serbia this week for the2023 World Rowing Championships which will kick off tomorrow, 3 September 2023.
From 3-10 September 2023, 450 crews will battle it out for World Rowing Championships glory as well as the first Olympic and Paralympic qualification spots for Paris 2024.
Racing will begin at 9:30 CET on Sunday, with the Heats in all the men’s small boats (men’s single sculls, pair, and double sculls), as well as the lightweight singles and lightweight men’s double sculls. The Heats in the remaining boat classes will continue through to Tuesday, 5 September.
With 47 entries at the time of the Draw for lanes, the men’s single sculls hit a record high number of athletes competing. The PR3 Mixed Double Sculls also received record entries, with 11 crews. The 2024 Paralympic Games will be the first time this boat class is featured, bringing the total Paralympic boat classes up to five.
The first opportunity to qualify for the Games will be on Monday, 4 September, in the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four (PR3 Mix4+). Since the top 6 crews overall will qualify for the Paralympic Games, the boats that win their Heats on Monday and advance directly to the final will also be claiming their spots in Paris. Qualification continues throughout the event.
It is important to note that it is not the rowers that qualify for the Games through the World Rowing Championships, but rather the boat for that respective nation.
The A-Finals for all 27 boat classes will take place from Friday, 8 September, to Sunday, 10 September.
Entries, Startlists, Results, editorial images, and more can be found here.
Learn more about how to follow the event here.
The 2023 World Rowing Championships are the first chance to secure national quota places for next year’s Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. For more on the Olympic Qualification Pathway see here. The Paralympic Qualification criteria can be found here.
About the World Rowing Championships
The senior World Rowing Championships are held every year at the end of the international rowing season and World Champions are crowned in 14 Olympic boat classes – seven for men and seven for women, as well as six International boat classes for lightweight rowers. Para-rowers compete in nine boat classes, five are Paralympic boat classes.
The World Rowing Championships were first held in 1962, with women’s championships added in 1974. Para events were contested for the first time at the 2002 World Rowing Championships in Sevilla, Spain.
Read more about the history of the World Rowing Championships here.
