British help develop Afghan rowing

By Jerome Starkey
In Kabul, Afghanistan

Rowing boats from the home of the 2006 World Rowing Championships, Eton College, in Great Britain are being shipped to Afghanistan, to a boat club being built on the site of a former military training camp.

The fledgling Afghan rowing team struggles to row in Afghanistan because they don't have any boats. Instead their rag-tag squad, with Olympic ambitions, is forced to train alongside Pakistani rowers, in Pakistani boats, on a lake outside of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.

But all that is set to change after the oarsmen's plight came to the attention of Britain's ambassador to Afghanistan, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles.

Sir Sherard persuaded the £26,000-a-year Eton College to donate two coxed fours and two coxless fours to Afghanistan's Water Sports Federation, which is run by a former warlord commander.

The Royal Air Force have also agreed to donate an unknown number of boats and then fly them out to Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, from RAF Brize Norton, in Great Britain, before the end of they year.

"We do not know when they will arrive, but we hope it will not be too long," said the ex- Jamiat-e Islami commander, Mullah Ezatullah Atif. "A promise is a promise."

The Northern Alliance leader claimed his decades of experience in picking mujahideen fighters to take on the Russians helped him to select a good crew. "It is like picking soldiers," he said. "That's why I have picked tall, strong and tough guys in Islamabad."

His squad is drawn from Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans fled to Pakistan during three decades of fighting in their own country.

The British boats will go to Kargha, a man-made lake, 12km outside of Kabul where the Watersports Federation is already home to the country's kayaking team. The Federation already has six racing kayaks courtesy of Iran.

Mullah Ezat hopes the 2,000m long lake, dubbed Henley in the Hindu Kush, could one day become a centre for international rowing events. He is already in talks to host the South Asian Games in 2008 and the crew hopes to compete in the London 2012 Olympics which will be held at the Eton rowing course.

Four-time Olympic gold medal winner and graduate of Eton College, Matthew Pinsent has already tipped the Afghans for success. He said: "I can't wait to see the results from these guys. Everyone knows that rowing needs desire and a dedication to get to the top and I'm convinced that these guys will have that by the bucketload."

Eton's headmaster Tony Little said: "We are delighted to be able to help. It would be wonderful if the Afghan team could come to Eton to compete in the Olympics in 2012. "The boats we are sending them are five to ten years old but in a good condition. They are perfect for training."

FISA’s development manager, Sheila Stephens Desbans, said the FISA Development Programme has received a request for support from the Afghanistan Rowing Federation. “Unfortunately we are not able to react at the moment,” said Stephens Desbans, “so we were very happy to hear of this generous donation.”

The project is being championed by the European Union's second most senior diplomat in Afghanistan, Michael Semple. The Afghanistan veteran and kayak enthusiast spends much of his spare time at the lake mentoring the Federation.

Semple said: "Sport gives people opportunities to earn dignity and respect and it's important to give the heroes of the jihad new roles in society."

At 2,200m above sea level Kargha could also attract world class crews eager to train at altitude. The lake is currently a popular Afghan picnic destination, offering promenade walks, a nine-hole desert golf course and pedal boat rides on the lake. There are also 18 lakeside holiday chalets and three restaurants.

Mullah Ezat plans to build a three storied grandstand at one end of the lake for spectators and a new federation club house, complete with gym and boathouse for the new boats. At the moment the kayaks are kept on upturned crates in an empty storeroom. "The problem is we have no money at the moment," he said. "We pay the kayakers $50 a month, but it all comes out of my own pocket."

Unfortunately Kargha freezes over in the winter, which is why the Mullah Ezat also has plans to build a boathouse in Darunta, which was once home to a massive cave network and military training camp allegedly affiliated with Al-Quaeda. In 2001 the camp was reduced to rubble by American bombing.

"It is not so dangerous there any more. The only thing I am afraid of is roadside bombs, not Al-Qaeda," Mullah Ezat said. "Darunta is also warmer so we could train all year round and it is close to Jallalabad University, so there would be lots of people to pick the crews from."

Mullah Ezat also hopes to open a club on the Kajaki dam in Helmand, the province where most of the 7,700 British troops in Afghanistan are based. At present it remains a Taliban heartland. "I don't think the Taliban are really into rowing," he said.

The World Rowing team values feedback.