The 2023 Shanghai Rowing Open (referred to as the ShangtingRace) was held on September 16th and 17th in the Suzhou River, known as themother river of Shanghai. For the first time, the South ChinaUniversity of Technology's rowing team made an appearance at the event,participating in the university group's mixed-gender 4.2-kilometer pursuit raceand the 500-meter city sprint.

This year's event featured a total of 51 eight-person boatteams, 10 four-person boat teams, and 14 individual rowers, totaling nearly 700participants. In addition to the university and club groups, the event alsoadded elite and youth group competitions. The elite group attracted top rowingteams from around the world, including the University of Cambridge and OxfordBrookes University rowing teams from the UK. 

The first competition on the afternoon of September 16thwitnessed an intense showdown. In the highly anticipated elite men'seight-person single scull with coxswain race, the University of Cambridgerowing team, the Australian national rowing team, and the Oxford BrookesUniversity rowing team claimed the first, second, and third places,respectively. In the elite women's eight-person single scull with coxswainrace, the Australian national rowing team, the Jiangsu rowing team, and theOxford Brookes University rowing team secured the first, second, and thirdplaces, respectively.

Thanks to the strong support of the South China University ofTechnology Shanghai Alumni Association and the Suzhou Alumni Association, theSouth China University of Technology rowing team has completed team building,emergency training, and registration for the competition. The team members haveovercome the dual challenges of mental and physical strength, foughttenaciously, and strived to be the first. They have used the competition aspractice, and the competition has promoted their training. They have showntheir level and style in the competition and have fully demonstrated the spiritof teamwork. In the end, they achieved eighth place in the 4.2-kilometerpursuit race and tenth place in the 500-meter sprint race in the nationaluniversity group competition. 

During the competition, students from South China Universityof Technology also engaged in exchanges about the diverse rowing culture withrowing team members from universities such as University of Cambridge, OxfordBrookes University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, TongjiUniversity, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Sun Yat-sen University, and ShanghaiTechUniversity, both domestic and international. Together, they explored the storiesbehind each rowing boat and the unique culture that embodies the DNA of rowingcompetitions. 

Rowing, as an international competitive sport, has attractedmore and more young people to participate. In the future, the school will alsohold on-land rowing races, and the Guangzhou International School will be thefirst to offer rowing classes, actively promoting the widespread disseminationand development of rowing projects on campus. 

It is reported that the slogan for this rowing competition isThe Power of Rowing Waves, symbolizing rowing athletes from aroundthe world gathering at the mother river of Shanghai, standing at the forefrontin the name of rowing, promoting the popularization of rowing culture, andusing the rowing competition to help Shanghai build a globally renowned sportscity and enhance its global influence. The open rowing competition has nowreached its third edition, with the participation of the South China Universityof Technology rowing team, not only promoting exchanges with other domestic andforeign universities but also further advancing the development ofrelationships between the school and the local community.