Rotsee | |
---|---|
Location | Canton of Lucerne |
Coordinates | 47°04′11″N8°18′51″E / 47.06972°N 8.31417°E |
Primary outflows | Ron |
Basin countries | Switzerland |
Max. length | 2.5 km (1.6 mi) |
Max. width | 0.3 km (0.19 mi) |
Surface area | 0.48 km2 (0.19 sq mi) |
Max. depth | 16 m (52 ft) |
Surface elevation | 419 m (1,375 ft) |
Settlements | Lucerne, Ebikon |
The Rotsee (previously known as Rootsee) is a natural rowing lake on the northern edge of Lucerne, Switzerland. It is regarded as one of the best rowing venues in the world.
The lake and its surrounding area is used for local recreation. All of the lake frontage is a protected area. The lake formed through glacial processes and it is thought that the river Reuss flowed through this valley in between ice ages. There is no notable inflow and virtually no current. Nearby hills protect the lake from wind. It is 2,400 metres (7,900 ft) long. These factors make it an ideal rowing venue and German-speaking rower refer to it as Göttersee, which translates as "lake of the gods". The expression was coined at the 1962 World Rowing Championships by a Japanese rowing official. [1] [2]
The Zug–Lucerne railway is located north of the lake. The south side of the lake has residential land use. The Ron is a 10-kilometre-long (6.2 mi) creek that is the lake's outflow; it flows into the Reuss at Root. [3]
Since 1885, the Rotsee was used for ice cutting, which was stored in insulated cellars lasting until autumn. Up to 80 people were employed, with the ice used by the hotel industry and brewers. This business ceased during the 1910s when refrigerators became more economical. With its proximity to Lucerne, the Rotsee and its surrounding area has been used for local recreation since the mid 18th century. An army ammunition depot next to the Rotsee exploded in 1916, resulting in five deaths and thousands of grenades being thrown in the lake. Recreational divers spotted some grenades during the 1970s and Police divers have since recovered about 1000 grenades from the lake. Police and army last found grenades in 2020 and it is assumed that there are still more explosives in the lake. [1]
Increasing housing in the area, with sewage discharge into the lake, resulted in ecological decline. The sewage treatment plants built at the lake in 1922 and 1929 belonged to the first installations in Switzerland, but the tension about ecological decline peaked in the 1920s. This gave rise to the founding of a society Gesellschaft Pro Rotsee in 1929 with the aim of saving the lake. In 1922, a canal was built that diverted water from the river Reuss into the Rotsee, but since the Reuss was also polluted, this did not significantly improve water quality. Significant improvements were achieved in 1974, when all domestic discharge was diverted to the new sewage treatment plant in Schiltwald (part of Emmen). [1]
The society was eventually given a lease of the lake by the city of Lucerne. The name of the society has since changed to Quartierverein Maihof, which leases the lake to this day. [1]
The Swiss national rowing championships, the first regatta on the Rotsee, was hosted in 1933. [1] European Rowing Championships were held here in 1934 and 1947, [4] [5] and again in 2019. [6] The inaugural World Rowing Championships were held in 1962, [1] with subsequent world championships in 1974, 1982 and 2001. The Final Olympic Qualification Regatta (FOQR) was held at the Rotsee in May 2021 as a qualification event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. [7]
The lake is the venue for the final leg of the World Rowing Cup series. When a World Championships is also being held in Lucerne (as happened in 2001) then no World Cup race is held on the lake.
Lake Lucerne is a lake in central Switzerland and the fourth largest in the country.
World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation, is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who succeeded Denis Oswald at a ceremony held in Lucerne in July 2014.
Frances Houghton MBE is a 5 time Olympic rower (2000–2016), 4 times World Champion and 3 times Olympic Silver medallist.
The 2001 World Rowing Championships were held from 19 to 26 August 2001 at Rotsee in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Emma Kimberley Twigg is a New Zealand rower. A single sculler, she was the 2014 world champion and won gold in her fourth Olympics in Tokyo in July 2021. Previous Olympic appearances were in 2008, 2012, and 2016. She has retired from rowing twice, first for master-level studies in Europe in 2015 and then after the 2016 Olympics, disappointed at having narrowly missed an Olympic medal for the second time. After two years off the water, she started training again in 2018 and won silver at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. Since her marriage in 2020, she has become an outspoken advocate for LGBT athletes. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Twigg won gold in the woman's single scull. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Twigg won Silver in the same event.
Helen Glover is a British professional rower and a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team. Ranked the number 1 female rower in the world in 2015–16, she is a two-time Olympic champion, triple World champion, quintuple World Cup champion and quintuple European champion. She and her partner Heather Stanning were the World, Olympic, World Cup and European record holders, plus the Olympic, World and European champions in the women's coxless pairs. She has also been a British champion in both women's fours and quadruple sculls.
Heather Mary Stanning OBE is a retired British professional rower. As a member of the Great Britain rowing team, she is a double Olympic champion, double World champion, quadruple World Cup champion and double European champion. She has also been a British champion in both women's fours and quad sculls.
The rowing competitions at the 2012 Olympic Games in London were held from 28 July to 4 August 2012, at Dorney Lake which, for the purposes of the Games venue, was officially termed Eton Dorney. Fourteen medal events were contested by 550 athletes, 353 men and 197 women.
The 1982 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 28 to 29 August 1982 at Rotsee in Lucerne, Switzerland.
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Brooke Francis is a New Zealand rower. She has twice won the world championship in the double scull alongside Olivia Loe, is the incumbent world champion, and won a silver medal in this class at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with rowing partner Hannah Osborne, followed by a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics with Lucy Spoors. As of 2021, she has won ten premier national rowing championships.
Götz Draeger, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Dräger, is a German rower.
Christof Kreuziger is a German rower. He won gold medals for East Germany at the 1973 European Rowing Championships and the 1974 World Rowing Championships in double scull, and at the 1975 World Rowing Championships in quad scull.
The 1947 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Rotsee in the Swiss city of Lucerne. The competition was for men only, they competed in all seven Olympic boat classes, and 15 nations participated. It was the first European Rowing Championships held after World War II, and it was the second time that the regatta was held on the Rotsee; the previous regatta was in 1934.
The 1926 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on Lake Lucerne in the Swiss city of Lucerne. The competition was for men only and they competed in all seven Olympic boat classes.
This article details the qualifying phase for rowing at the 2020 Summer Olympics. The majority of the spots were awarded to the National Olympic Committees, not to specific athletes, at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, held in Ottensheim, Austria from 25 August to 1 September 2019. At the World Championships countries qualify boats rather than crews and can make crew changes for the Olympic regatta for qualified boats. Further berths are distributed to the nations at four continental qualifying regattas in Asia and Oceania, Africa, Latin America, and Europe. The last berths were distributed at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta held in Lucerne, Switzerland 15–16 May 2021.
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