Rowers from Toruń proved best in the rowing eights race. The following places were taken by teams from German universities. Citizens of Wrocław enjoyed themselves the whole day at the Wrocław University of Technology marina.
At 12 o’clock sharp, the Wrocław rowing holiday started.
At 2 PM, the discus and hammer throw across the Odra river competitions started. Unfortunately, they had to be stopped due to the rain but they were resumed after an hour-and-a-half break.
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The competitions saw a rivalry between Olympic and World Championships medalists. In the discus throw struggle, Piotr Małachowski was the undisputed winner. He threw the discus across the river on a distance of 64,36 metres. In the women’s rivalry Joanna Wiśniewska was the victor – she was the only athlete to manage to throw the discus on the other bank of the river, achieving a distance of 59 metres. First place in the women’s hammer throw rivalry went to Joanna Fiodorow, who reached the distance of 70,67 metres. Anita Włodarczyk (69,32 metres) was second and admitted she was very satisfied with her result. The Russian Tatiana Łysenko (67,13 metres) took third place. The men’s hammer throw competition was won by the Olympic Champion Krisztian Pars from Hungary, who achieved the distance of 80,49 metres. Paweł Fajdek, the current World Champion, took second place with a result of 78,34 metres.
The competitions were organized thanks to the support of Kamila Skolimowska Foundation.
At the same time, qualifying runs for the Dragon Boats Race for the KGHM Polska Miedź Cup were held. Four teams composed of 10 persons each took part in the rivalry. The teams represented Wrocław universities: University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Medical University, Wrocław University of Technology, and University of Wrocław. More information is available here.
After 5 PM, the rowing eights semi-finals took place on the Odra river. Many citizens of Wrocław came to cheer the athletes close to the finish line that was located at the Wrocław University of Technology marina.
In the A semi-finals, the Bremen University team outplayed the RWTH Aachen University team. In the B semi-finals, the crews of Technische Universität Dresden and Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń competed, with the latter one proving much quicker.
In the A finals (places 1-2), then, we could see the rivalry between the teams from Aachen and the best Polish team from Toruń. The B finals saw the rivalry between two German crews – from Bremen and Dresden.
After a short break, races for the following places were held. Our University crew competed against the team of University of Wrocław and turned out to be unmatched – they crossed the finish line first with a time of 2:34.1, overtaking the rivals by a length of about two boats (30 metres, time 2:46.5). Thus, our team made it to the C finals, i.e. the rivalry for 5th place.
The finals, including the women’s eights, started at 7 PM. Like during the semi-finals, the Olympian Marek Kolbowicz was the commentator.
Watching the finals wasn’t at all easy for the spectators. It became cold and there was a blowing rain but that didn’t discourage the people. With umbrellas and in raincoats, they cheered the athletes at the finish line.
First, the C finals were organized, which saw a competition between Wrocław University of Technology and Warsaw University of Technology. Accompanied by a rousing applause, the eight of Wrocław University of Technology came first (with a result of 2:01.9), outdoing the rivals by 8 seconds.
The rivalry in the B finals (Dresden-Bremen) was much more tight. The teams were rowing nip and tuck. The victory was decided by just 0,4 second - the Dresden team turned out to be quicker (result: 1:47.3).
In the most important race of the men’s eights, the A finals, the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń team confidently beat the Aachen team, achieving a result of 1:47.7 (the rivals – 1:50.9)
“We are extremely happy.” – said the coach of the team from Toruń after the race – “All the more that for the last two years we haven’t been able to win here as the German crews who took part in the event turned out better. Today, we beat the team from Aachen, so we finally reached our aim.”
The happiness of the team from Toruń was clearly visible at the medal awarding ceremony. They laughed, rose the Mayor of Wrocław Cup and took photos. They even convinced Prof. Tadeusz Więckowski, Rector of Wrocław University of Technology, to take a memorial photograph for them.
“We would like to thank all the athletes for their passion and for the effort they are making.” – said Adam Grehl, Vice-Mayor of Wrocław – “We invite you visit Wrocław more often – you are always welcome here.”
The women’s eights finals saw a competition between teams from Wrocław University of Technology and University of Wrocław. Our team turned out victorious, achieving a result of 2:33.0 and winning the Marshal of the Dolnośląskie Province Cup. The rowers from University of Wrocław crossed the finish line at 2:42.0.
In the evening, the traditional rivalry for the Wrocław University of Technology Rector’s Cup between teams from Wrocław University of Technology and University of Wrocław was held. Our team, coached by Paweł Rańda, proved better.
The first day of the Odra River Cup ended with a spectacular fireworks show.
The Odra River Cup regattas were organized by Wrocław University of Technology. Bronisław Komorowski, President of the Republic of Poland, took patronage of the event and the main sponsor of the competition was KGHM Polska Miedź S.A.
Małgorzata Jurkiewicz, Lucyna Róg
Photos: Iwona Szajner, Katarzyna Górowicz-Maćkiewicz
Translation: Dariusz Więcławski