One Month Away, The Super Bowl of Rowing Competition Comes To Sarasota – Bradenton

September 23-October 1.  We are only one month away from welcoming the world to Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida for the 2017 World Rowing Championships at Nathan Benderson Park.

Here are the headlines about the event courtesy of Max Winitz, Media and Public Relations Director for the event:

• As of now, there are 71 countries scheduled to compete

• Multiple shipping containers with rowing sculls and shells inside of them will be arriving from overseas in about a week

• On August 28, construction will begin on the 2,000 seat grandstand

• Around 400 volunteers are still needed. There are more than 1,600 already registered

• VIP tickets inside the Nathan Benderson Park Finish Tower are already sold out for Championship Weekend (September 30-October 1). A few VIP seats are still available for September 24-29. Tickets can be purchased at www.wrch2017.com/tickets

• Around 50 vendors will be on-site during all 9 days of the event. This excludes the dozens of other vendors who will be at the event on various days

• The Opening Ceremony is on the evening of September 23rd. It begins at 7:00 p.m. The event is free for everyone and does not require a ticket. It will feature a firework show and some of the area’s most talked about and popular entertainment acts

• The United States Rowing Team will be announced on August 28th

• The first country to arrive at Nathan Benderson Park to train for the 2017 World Rowing Championships is, Ukraine. The team is tentatively scheduled to begin on September 7th

• Construction is wrapping up on Nathan Benderson Park’s new Starter’s Pavilion. It will house officials and timing cameras during the event and serve as a pavilion on non-event days

• As of today, reporters and photographers from 25 different countries have applied for accreditation to cover the event

• NBC Sports Network and the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, will carry the event in the United States

photo from World Rowing Facebook page