Opening Ceremony of the '2025 Ulsan World Prestigious University Rowing Festival' on August 20
Over 150 Athletes from 12 Universities in 7 Countries Compete
Festival Continues Until the 24th
The Ulsan city government announced that the opening ceremony of the '2025 Ulsan World Prestigious University Rowing Festival' will be held at 7 p.m. on August 20 at Dongcheon Gymnasium.
This festival, now in its second year following last year, has established itself as the only international university rowing competition in Korea, with more than 150 athletes from 12 universities across seven countries participating.
The opening ceremony will be attended by Ulsan Mayor Kim Doo-gyeom, over 150 athletes, and approximately 4,000 citizens.
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with pre-ceremony performances by the Kaycrew and the Ulsan University Kirin Cheerleading Team, followed by the official program including the athletes' entrance, button touch, and congratulatory performances.
After the official ceremony ends at 7:40 p.m., a K-POP concert will be held as part of the opening celebration. The concert will feature performances by Park Jihyun, La Poem, Norazo, and TripleS, who are expected to light up the summer night.
In particular, on the morning of the opening day, starting at 10 a.m., a rowing tour will take place, during which participating athletes will parade along a 3-kilometer course from Ulsan Bridge to the Taehwagang Observatory in their rowing shells.
Additionally, this festival is drawing attention as a global sports event that promotes the region's history and culture. An emblem design inspired by the boat engravings depicting prehistoric whale hunting scenes from Bangudae Petroglyphs, Ulsan's UNESCO World Heritage site, has been created for the event.
Mayor Kim Doo-gyeom stated, "This festival is a symbolic event that demonstrates Ulsan's rise as an advanced sports city," adding, "We will continue to develop it into a world-class event."
This year's festival will see the participation of teams that competed last year, such as the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, MIT, Yale University, Hamburg University of Technology, University of Tokyo, and Peking University. Newly joining this year are Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich from Germany and the National University of Singapore. In total, more than 150 rowers from 12 universities representing seven countries, including international teams from six countries and domestic teams such as UNIST and Ulsan University, will compete.
The main rowing competitions will take place on the fifth and sixth days, August 23 and 24, over an 800-meter stretch between Taehwa Bridge and Beonyeong Bridge.
On August 23, there will be heats for the Mixed Eight (8+), Men's Four (4+), and Women's Four (4+), as well as the Mixed Eight (8+) repechage. On August 24, the finals and repechage for the Men's Four (4+) and Women's Four (4+), ranking races, and the finals and ranking races for the Mixed Eight (8+) will be held.
In addition, during the competition days on August 23 and 24, a promotional booth for world-renowned universities and a citizen rowing experience zone will be set up at the Taehwagang event site.
Other events include: a welcome music concert and International Exchange Night for participants on August 19; visits to major industries in Ulsan and a Whale Sea Tour on August 21; a mentoring program for youth by students from prestigious universities on August 22; and a closing ceremony and farewell banquet on August 24.
Furthermore, the '3rd Ulsan Metropolitan Mayor's Cup Rowing Competition' will also be held alongside the festival on August 23 and 24 at the Taehwagang area, with 17 teams of recreational athletes participating.
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