Under -23 World Championship

WORDS RACHEL QUARRELL // PHOTOGRAPHY IGOR MEIJER

EVENT

Plovdiv, the site of next autumn’s senior world championships, played host to a bunch of talented under-23-year-olds in July, giving Bulgaria a useful final test event as the age-group rising stars made their bids for early career glory.

At the end of the week it was Italy who topped the medal table, followed by the Dutch who had a storming regatta, and Britain only one bronze ahead of Romania in third. But it could be argued that the course itself had the most success, the Grebna Baza rowing canal beside the Maritsa River producing no fewer than twelve new world best times, aided by scorching sunshine which warmed the water of the artificial lake as it had done for the record-breaking 1999 junior champs.