“The connection with Split is so deep that rowers return anew as their deepest and fondest memories of being with friends are connected to this regatta”
Once again, Split will host the premier university eights from around Europe at the 16th edition of the International Rowing Regatta of St. Duje, thus bringing a sports celebration to the Split city day. On a rare note, the legends regatta will be held on the very day of St. Duje, so the rowing spectacle will be enjoyed by thousands of Split residents and guests from the Riva seafront and at the regatta track on Spinut the day before.
12 male and 9 female crews will participate in the race, with the most prominent in the male competition being last year’s winners from Aachen University, as well as crews from Oxford, Cambridge and Pavia University. Croatia will be represented by the hosts from Split University, as well as those from Zagreb and Dubrovnik universities, with the finals in both categories to be held on Saturday, May 6 at noon. The race of legends from Oxford, Cambridge and Split will traditionally be held in Split harbour on May 7 at 12:30h.
“We want to especially thank all the persons and volunteers who are taking part at all organisational levels. Our manifestation is top notch with a very small budget, thanks to the long term support of our partners, but primarily due to such strong volunteer work from all included. We try to add to the tourism offer of Split in the preseason, which can be seen in the fact that 25% of regatta participants return to the Adriatic at least once a year, 11 of them now owning property in Croatia, with former rowers founding 3 tourism agencies in England which now send over four thousand guests to Croatia each year, which says enough about their desire to invest in Croatia.” said regatta Director and Deputy President of the Croatian Academic Sports Federation Toni Gamulin.
The strong tourism aspect of the regatta was confirmed by the head of the Department for Sports and Sports Infrastructure of the City of Split, Hrvoje Akrap, who stated: “The promotion of Split through participants is most important so this tradition needs to carry on. This is a top notch event and I certainly hope the city administration will support it in the future.”
Through the years, this event has become one of the strongest European student regattas, primarily due to the participation of Oxford and Cambridge teams who motivate the foremost European student crews to compete with them. It all has an effect on the development of student sports in general, especially in Split, something referred to by the Dean of Split University, prof.dr.sc. Šimun Anđelinović: “Academic sports at our university are developed in the competitive, but also recreational sense. We want to expand the sports activity of students and enable our employees and students to have the infrastructure for sports activities. We will continue to work on this and strive to promote the development of sports not just through such events like the regatta, but also in a wider engagement of students and teachers.”
At the press conference the documentary film about the regatta was presented, currently in production by Split students – long-time volunteers in the organisation of St. Duje regatta – who visited this year’s The Boat Race in London as part of the production and spoke with Oxford and Cambridge legends.
“The connection with Split is so deep that rowers return anew as their deepest and fondest memories of being with friends are connected to this regatta. Besides the competition and renewal of old sports rivalries of Oxford and Cambridge, for them Split is the place of annual meeting and the Lighthouse Disco is an opportunity to have fun with the younger generations as well,” said gold Olympian from Sydney and Oxford rowing legend Luka Grubor.
To close the press conference Denis Boban from the rowing club Gusar pointed out: “It means a lot to us that we are the main sporting event for the celebration of St. Duje in Split, which is why HVK Gusar is providing all its resources in the technical organisation of the competition and we aim to make sure participants are satisfied and want to return each year.”
