Best Bulgarian rowers Georgi Bozhilov and Kristian Vassilev placed 6^th in A Final of the 2014 World Rowing Championship held in the Netherlands, covering the distance of 2,000 meters in 6:12:31 minutes. This result is undoubtedly a great success for the Bulgarian pair.

“I departed to the Netherlands with a great desire to perform successfully. I was hoping to reach the final race, but I did not expect it. We were very motivated at the semifinals. Our rowing has been improving gradually. I was very pleased with our results", says Kristian Vassilev after he returned to Sofia.

Vassilev and Bozhilov teamed up for the first time at this World Championship. Their pair was formed 20 days before the start of the World Rowing Championship, a time which is usually not enough for the athletes to make a good team. Vassilev competes in the men’s category for the first time this year and Bozhilov has returned from a heavy knee and shoulder injury. The wind was also against them. The rowing channel in Amsterdam has its peculiarity-when the wind blows in a certain direction, the performance of the athletes depends on the rowing lane. Thus, it is much easier to row in the first lane than in the last ones. Unfortunately, the Bulgarian heroes had to row in the last 6^th lane.

“My performance was affected for the second time by this lane, because three years ago I lost the gold medal at the 2011 World Rowing Championships due to this reason”, Georgi Bozhilov who won a silver medal in 2011 in the single scull category, told Radio Bulgaria. "I do not think we had the chance to win this time, but we could at least compete for the 4^th or the 5^th position. Unfortunately, we were not lucky enough.”

The Bulgarian boys proved they can work well together. They are resolved to continue working together in pair and try to win an Olympic quota and a medal at the next Summer Olympic Games. The Bulgarian Rowing Federation assessed positively the last rowing season. The country was selected to host the U23 World Rowing Championships in 2015 and 2017 and the 2018 World Rowing Championship. The head coach of the national rowing team Danail Yordanov is planning to invite talented athlete Romeo Angelov to join the men’s team, so Bulgaria can perform at two disciplines at the World Rowing Championships - single scull and men’s double scull. Representatives of the federation are positive that the focus should fall on the women’s rowing in the future. Unfortunately, the most talented Bulgarian female rower Luisa-Maria Russinova was not allowed to take part at the World Championships due to a conflict with her head coach. Many talented children are expected to join this sport discipline. If the authorities provide proper training conditions, these athletes could mark great success within 5 years. Unfortunately, the lack of finance is the biggest problem in this sport. Another issue regards the lack of high-quality boats and permanent sheds the sports clubs can use. The biggest problem regards the low salaries of the professional athletes which forces many of them to compete abroad. For example, former Bulgarian Junior World Champion Alexander Alexandrov currently competes for Azerbaijan. The member of the Bulgarian Rowing Federation Radoslav Yovkov has called on the Bulgarian Ministry of Youth and Sports to provide adequate remuneration to the Bulgarian champions, because the athletes would be able to win more medals, if they focus on their sports performance only.

“This problem does not exist in rowing only. The same thing happens everywhere - from chess to weightlifting. The professional athletes which are part of the world sport elite can not live with EUR 200 per month. Our biggest challenge is to keep the young athletes in Bulgaria, so they can continue to row for this country and we can be proud of their success”, Radoslav Yovkov pointed out.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov