This will be the eighth time the Netherlands hosts a FISU World University Championship, and the second in Rotterdam, with the city having hosted equestrian back in 1990. Also, the FISU Championship Rowing returns to the country for the third time – 1986 in Amsterdam and Groningen in 1994.Athletes from 26 countries and five continents (listed below) will compete at the Willem-Alexander Baan venue, which has previously hosted the U23 World Championship and one of the three regattas during the 2019 World Rowing Cup.Rowing is a very strong student sport in the Netherlands with the existence of 26 student rowing associations, and evident in the two gold and five total medals Dutch athletes won at last summer’s Chengdu FISU World University Games. The country is a rowing powerhouse having won six gold and nine total medals at the most recent World Rowing Championships and with its finish tied atop the Tokyo 2020 Olympics medal table with five.Boats will first hit the water Thursday morning and all schedules, draws, and results can be found here, with additional event information available at the official Rotterdam 2024 FISU World University Championship website.Mike Scott, 54, a business journalist, was out for a run and saw the incident from the Fisherman’s Walk zigzag.He said: “The wind was very strong and the waves were all over the place.”I saw that the boat, which looked like one of those transatlantic rowing boats, looked to be struggling. The four people on board weren’t rowing but just seemed to be waiting for the waves to push them ashore.”Mr Scott said it appeared that one of the rower’s oars had broken.”As the boat got closer to the shore, one of the men in the boat jumped off and tried to control it but a wave picked it up and threw the boat onto the beach, dumping the other three men out of the boat and onto the sand,” he added.