Athens Olympic Rowing Course Back in the International Spotlight

The 2008 European Rowing Championships were awarded yesterday evening to the Greek Rowing Federation and will be staged at the Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing centre in Marathon, Greece.

The decision was unanimously reached by the delegates of 25 European national rowing federations present at yesterday’s European Rowing Meeting in Linz/Ottensheim, Austria during the first stage of the 2007 Rowing World Cup.

This announcement comes as the Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre is being re-opened as an international training centre by the Hellenic Olympic Properties organisation, an entity created by the Greek government to settle the legacy of 22 Olympic venues in and around Athens.

FISA President and former Chairman of the 2004 IOC Olympic Games Coordination Commission Denis Oswald and who was present in Athens last week said: “We are pleased to see our 2004 Olympic venue come back to life. The centre is a great legacy from the games, and will provide state of the art facilities for Greek and International athletes training at the top level.”

The re-instated European Rowing Championships, last staged in 1973, will be held this year in Poznan, Poland from 21 to 23 September. Already, 500 athletes have confirmed participation in the event. The European Rowing Championships are governed by the European Rowing Management Board which which is made up of sevem members representating FISA and the European national rowing federations.

At yesterday’s meeting, Belarus and Portugal stated their intention to bid for the 2009 European Rowing Championships. The vote for this event will be held during the 2007 European Rowing Championships in Poland.