Opening Ceremony of European Universities Rowing Championship Held in Istanbul

EUSA President Adam Roczek, Turkish University Sports Federation President Prof. Dr. Mehmet Günay, Yeditepe University Honorary President Bedrettin Dalan, Yeditepe University Rector Prof. Dr. Canan Aykut Bingöl and many guests attended.

The opening ceremony, which started at 20:00, started with the flagged passage of more than 500 athletes. The teams that will compete in the championship also carried banners representing their universities. After a moment of silence and the National Anthem, the ceremony continued with a short promotional film introducing Istanbul and the Golden Horn, and various dance, music and folklore activities performed by Yeditepe University Student Clubs.

I WOULD BE HAPPY IF THE EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY GAMES TAKE PLACE IN TURKEY

EUSA President Rozcek, in his opening speech about the organization, said, “First of all, we are very happy that we had the opportunity to be in Istanbul and that the race will take place in the Golden Horn. Generally, organizations in Turkey are good, and this organization is an example of this. Everything works great except the weather conditions. We postponed today’s races until tomorrow due to bad weather. A great opening was held, and I congratulate the talented students of the university. I would be very happy if the European University Games take place in Turkey in the future.”

EUSA President Adam Roczek was presented with a plaque by the university during the ceremony.

Speaking at the ceremony, Yeditepe University Honorary President and Former Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Bedrettin Dalan greeted the university students and said, “This event started with Oxford, Cambridge and Boğaziçi University before you. They competed in the Golden Horn. It is gratifying that this initiative, friendship and competition that started then has become what it is today, this championship. You are here not only for a sporting event, but more importantly to be together and understand each other, make friendships and make the world better. I hope you stay healthy, happy and comfortable in Istanbul and at our university.” said.

“IT IS HONORABLE TO HOST THE CHAMPIONSHIP”

Yeditepe University Rector Prof. Dr. Canan Aykut Bingöl said, “We are very happy and proud, we are really honored to host the European Rowing Championship. More than 500 participants stay on our campus, we did our best to make them compete in the best way in the whole organization. Our former IMM President Bedrettin Dalan is the person who cleaned the Golden Horn and started these races for the first time as Oxford, Cambridge and Bosphorus. We have hosted the races that started with 3 universities, now with 73 universities, with more than 500 participants and as the European Championship, and we are very happy if we could support our youth.”

ISTANBUL, ONE OF THE DEEPEST HISTORICAL CITIES

At the end of the ceremony, the athletes who will participate in the championship also made a statement. British Mathew Hudson, who will be competing to represent Oxford University in the championship, said: “I am very happy to compete in Istanbul, one of the deepest cities in history, the opening ceremony was great. We will row tomorrow, and on Friday we will be in the final.” Milford Killian-Dawson, another British athlete who will compete for Imperial College London, said, “Istanbul is a magnificent city, I have been here before, it is very nice for me to be back again. The whole team liked the city very much. We especially liked the Golden Horn. “The competition will be incredible,” he said.

Stating that he came from Switzerland, Zurich Federal Institute of Technology to compete, Jan Egli said, “Here, volunteers help us, they both act as translators and introduce them to the people of the city, this is very nice. We are staying here on campus, in the forest, we loved this environment.”

Elis Özbay, who participated in the competition on behalf of Yeditepe University, said, “Yeditepe University is an institution that values ​​sports and athletes a lot. It is a great honor for me to host the European Championship and compete on behalf of Yeditepe. It is also very exciting for our guests from Europe to race in the Golden Horn, which has a great historical and cultural value.”

Adrian Elter, who will be competing on behalf of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and who stated that he is excited, said, “It is a great opportunity to be here, it is nice to visit Istanbul, it will be a good opportunity to row in the Golden Horn for the rest of my life. The weather was bad, it was not raceable, but now that it is raceable, I am very excited for the race,” he said.

The championship will be held in the Golden Horn between 7-9 September. After the races that will take place in many different categories, as men and women, the medals will find their owners. Rowing teams of many universities from Turkey will also participate in the championship. The closing ceremony of the championship will take place on Friday, September 9th.