The Bosbaan is a rowing lake situated in the Amsterdamse Bos (Amsterdam Forest) in Amstelveen, Netherlands. Amstelveen is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands and is part of the metropolitan area of Amsterdam. Confusingly, all built structures at the north-eastern end of the course fall under jurisdiction of the city of Amsterdam. The Bosbaan (literal translation: Forest course) is the oldest artificial rowing course in the world.
The course was built in 1936 as part of an employment project and originally had five lanes, but was then widened to six lanes in 1954 when Amsterdam hosted the European Rowing Championships, the first international event where women were allowed to participate as elite rowers.
Following a major renovation in 2001, the Bosbaan measures 2200 metres in length, 118 metres across and features 8 lanes. In this reconstruction the boat storage facilities were also doubled in size, and the old grandstand demolished.
In July 2005 the first international championships (since the expansion of 2001) took place at the Bosbaan: the WU23 (World Championships Under 23). In 2006, the rowing course hosted the World Junior Championships and in 2007, it was the site of the 2nd Rowing World Cup Regatta. In 2014 it hosted the 2014 World Rowing Championships.
The Bosbaan hosts both the Olympic Training Centre for the national rowing association (KNRB) and the Vrije Universiteit student rowing club R.S.V.U. 'Okeanos'. Both are housed in a modern dedicated training and club facility, designed to be reminiscent of the former grandstand.
The venue is popular for leisure activities such as recreational running (the marked perimeter path is 5 km); running events; dragonboat races and angling. [1] [2] [3]
The Bosbaan lies in parallel with the approach to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol's runway 09/27, at approx 2 km distance.
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Amstelveen is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands, with a population of 92,353 as of 2022. It is a suburban part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area.
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Tramlijn 5 is a tram line operating between Amsterdam and Amstelveen in the Netherlands. Operated by the municipal transport company GVB, the route normally runs between Van Hallstraat in Amsterdam and Stadshart in the neighbouring municipality of Amstelveen. Tram line 5 connects several important areas of the city, including the Zuidas financial district and Leidseplein, and also provides a rapid tram route south of Amsterdam Zuid station to Stadshart, Amstelveen's town centre.
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VRA Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, the home of VRA Amsterdam since 1939. It regularly plays host to the Netherlands home games in the World Cricket League, Intercontinental Cup and CB40.
The Amsterdamse Bos is an English park or landscape park in the municipalities of Amstelveen and Amsterdam. Although most of the park is located in Amstelveen, the owner of the park is the City of Amsterdam. The park was mainly built in the early 1930s, mostly by the unemployment relief. Because of World War II interrupting the building process, the last tree was not planted until the 1970s. Annually, almost 4.5 million people visit the park, which has a size of 1,000 hectares and is approximately three times the size of Central Park in New York City. It houses a number of animal parks, sporting clubs, rowing courses, gardens and remembrance monuments.
The Varsity is a rowing regatta on the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal in Houten, Netherlands each Spring. The Varsity is the oldest and most prestigious student rowing regatta in the Netherlands.
VRA Amsterdam is a cricket club in Amstelveen, Netherlands. It was founded on September 5, 1914 from the merger of Volharding (1889), RAP (1887) and Amstels C.C. (1885). In the early years the club played visiting English teams at locations like the Vondelpark, Museumplein and the Olympic Stadium. In 1939 VRA moved to the Amsterdamse Bos, where it is located right next to the international Wagener Stadium.
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The Baarnse Bos is a park/forest in the southern part of the municipality of Baarn, the province of Utrecht (province), the Netherlands. The area of the forest if approximately 80 hectares and is adjacent to the Soestdijk Palace.
The 1966 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Bosbaan in the Dutch city of Amsterdam; the venue had previously been used for the 1954 and 1964 European Rowing Championships. This edition of the European Rowing Championships was for women only and was held from 26 to 28 August. Thirteen countries contested five boat classes, and 39 teams were competing. Two weeks later, men would meet in Bled, Yugoslavia, at the second edition of the World Rowing Championships.
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