A brief history of rowing in Slovenia

Rowing culture in Slovenia has been crowned with internationally recognized achievements ranging from gold medals in the Olympic Games to the World Championships. In addition, World and European rowing Championships have been held in the alpine setting of Lake Bled, Slovenia.

The rowing tradition in Slovenia has a long and rich past, going back to the year 1887 with the first rowing club – Club Piranese Salvatore, founded in the coastal town of Piran.

The first success in the Olympic Games came in 1928 when four members of the rowing club Pullina from Izola won gold in Amsterdam, competing under the Italian flag at that time. From 1945 until Slovenia’s independence in 1991, Slovenian rowers successfully represented Yugoslavia, winning a total of six medals in the World Rowing Junior Championships. In the period after the independence of Slovenia even more victories followed, bringing the tally up to 24 medals in top competitions at junior level and 20 in the elite categories, including the Olympic Games.

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. Despite the relatively small number of rowers in Slovenia, they have won international fame as individuals as well as teams. The most prominent and famous figures are undoubtedly Iztok Čop and Luka Špik. Čop 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.

Due to excellent organization and the fact that Bled has one of the most beautiful and scenic courses in the world, with equal conditions for all competitors, the annual Bled regatta has been included in FISA’s list of international events.

Source: http://www.delo.si/assets/media/picture/20110828/cop_spik.jpg?rev=1, http://www.vesl-klub-bled.si/zgodovina-kluba/