Willem-Alexander Baan (Dutch for Willem-Alexander Rowing Course) is an artificial lake in the Dutch village of Zevenhuizen near

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

. It has been used as a rowing

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wat ...

venue since 2012 and hosted the

2016 World Rowing Championships The 2016 World Rowing Championships was the 46th edition and held from 21 to 28 August 2016 at the Willem-Alexander Baan in Rotterdam, Netherlands in conjunction with the World Junior Rowing Championships and the World Rowing U23 Championsh ...

History

Planning for the rowing lake started in 2002. Construction started in 2011 and was undertaken by the

Government of Rotterdam The Government of Rotterdam is the government of the municipality and city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Most of the inhabitants live in the city of Rotterdam, but the municipality also covers a number of small villages, and other parts of the l ...

, and the facility was opened by King Willem-Alexander on 26 April 2013. The first competition was held in 2012, i.e. prior to the official opening of the facility. The first large competition that was held here was the rowing part of the European Universities Games 2014. In August 2016, the venue hosted the World Rowing Championships, the World Rowing U23 Championships, and the

World Rowing Junior Championships The World Rowing Junior Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). A rower or coxswain shall be classified as a Junior until 31 December of the year in which he reaches the age of ...

Description

Willem-Alexander Rowing Course is located parallel to the river Rotte. The competition area is laid out with eight lanes using the Albano buoy system. There is a second canal parallel to the competition area available for training runs and warm ups. The course was designed in collaboration with the International Rowing Federation (FISA).

References

External links

Willem-Alexander Rowing Course
* (in Dutch) {{coord, 51.9985, 4.5612, format=dms, type:landmark_region:NL_dim:10km, display=title Rowing venues Rowing in the Netherlands Sports venues in South Holland Sports venues completed in 2013 Artificial lakes Lakes of the Netherlands Sport in Zuidplas