Bagsværd Lake Rowing Stadium

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Elite stadium makes waves

By Hans Bonde, Professor. dr. phil. (17 stories)

Bagsværd Lake Rowing Stadium north of Copenhagen was first used for racing in 1930. It now has six 2,000-metre rowing lanes that can be converted into nine lanes for canoe and kayak racing. The rowing stadium is where the elite of this sport come together. Team Denmark's elite rowers train on the lake, which is also the venue for international rowing, canoe and kayak regattas. When races are not being held, the lake is a popular water sports area for enthusiasts with rowboats, yachts, canoes and kayaks. The stadium's status as an elite facility is a bone of contention. In 2008, the Danish Society for Nature Conservation attempted to have the lakes in Bagsværd and Lyngby officially declared nature reserves.

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Change of style brings gold

Story written by Hans Bonde

Time / Periode 1930 2009

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The golden four" has been Denmark's champion boat over the years. For example, the "lightweight four" was fastest and took the gold at the Olympics in 1996, 2004 and 2008. Rowing shows how sport has developed in Denmark. In about 1900, sport was characterised by the struggle between a culture based on traditional aristocratic posture with straightness, form and figure compared with the modern high-speed rowing with its dynamic curved-back position. Style often clashed with speed. Members of the "fairer sex" in particular were restricted to stylish rowing until far into the mid-war years in the ladies races in Copenhagen. But when the starting pistol sounded, the women were prone to lose all sense of decorum in their strenuous efforts to cross the finish line first. "