1991 World Rowing Championships

A new rowing centre was built beside the Steinspornbrücke on the Neue Donau for the 1991 World Rowing Championships. The course runs from south-east to north-west, matching the prevailing wind so no lane has an advantage. At the start line the path passes through a clothing-optional zone; organisers asked visitors to keep clothes on during the races. Austria nearly added to its recent gold tally but finished with silver and bronze instead. Walter Rantasa and Christoph Schmölzer took silver in the lightweight double scull, while Hermann Bauer and Karl Sinzinger won bronze in the coxless pair. The favoured double scull team of Christoph Zerbst and Arnold Jonke did not reach the final. Germany’s reunited team topped the medal table with twelve medals, seven of them gold. One gold came in the coxed four, setting a world best time that still stood years later. Slovenia celebrated its first world championship medal in the coxless pair, immediately after the country declared independence, as fans threw flags and even the crew into the water.