News Lagoa Stadium was the latest Rio 2016 Games venue to be put to the test as it staged the junior world rowing championships, which came to an end on Saturday (8 August) Following successful test events at Marina de Glória (sailing), the Maracanãzinho (volleyball) and Fort Copacabana (triathlon), the venue at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas hosted the fourth of 45 competitions that are being used to fine-tune preparations for next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games And, as with the previous test events, the four-day rowing competition finished with positive reviews from athletes and the public, and valuable lessons for Games organisers “The setting is beautiful and the competition was really well organised,” said 17-year-old Dutchman Bart Roovers, who won gold in the men’s eight, ahead of the USA and Germany “I’m really excited about seeing the Netherlands compete here next year in the Olympics ”As with the triathlon test event, the passion of the Brazilian crowds was a highlight of the rowing competition “The crowd was really lively, there was a great energy,” said Angela Goes dos Santos, who was at the stadium with her husband Alexandre, son Mateus and daughter Beatriz “We have some tickets for the games but not to rowing, and I am glad my kids could see this different sport ” For Rio 2016’s rowing manager, Colleen Orsmond, the test event was a chance to discover how the venue can be perfected for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with attention focused on the competition area “The tournament went smoothly, and that's the main thing,” she said, before referring to the already known fact that the lagoon needs to be deepened in the starting area “The International Rowing Federation are monitoring everything and they know we are working to correct this for the Olympic Games,” she said Sunday’s finals were moved to Saturday, due to weather forecasts, and Orsmond said: “This is normal in open-air sports, we need to adapt to the conditions that nature presents Again, it was managed in partnership with the International Rowing Federation, which also had a contingency plan for these kinds of situations ”Fans enjoyed the atmohphere in the stands at Lagoa Stadium (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro) The rowing competition was the first of the Rio 2016 test events to be ticketed, with 20 per cent of the 1,300 seats on sale to the general public This meant the schedule change presented another challenge, with everyone who had brought tickets for Sunday entitled to a full refund “We tested all aspects of our operation, such as access control, ticket collection for special groups, cancellations and relocations,” said Deborah Avelino, ticketing coordinator for the Copacabana venue zone, which includes Lagoa Rio 2016 had around 130 employees from 25 departments on deck, as well as over 500 volunteers, one of whom was Juliana Ramalho, who had previously volunteered at the Rio 2007 Pan-American Games and 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup “It’s my first rowing event, but I always try to be involved in sport because it teaches so many life lessons,” she said “The Olympics are a unique chance to do all of these things ”On the water, the most successful team was Germany, which had representatives in all 13 finals and won 11 medals, five gold For more information on the event, including full results, visit the International Rowing Federation site To find out more about the Rio 2016 test events, click here Check out our gallery of the best images: