Let the Rowers Speak - Results of the Athletes' Questionnaire

The FISA Athletes’ Commission has released the results of their questionnaire administered to rowers at the 2005 World Rowing Championships in Gifu, Japan last August. Presented in five languages, 487 completed questionnaires were received representing 67% of all competing athletes. Responses received were 70% from males and 30% from females, 67% from Europeans, 13% from North Americans, 7% from Asians, 7% from Oceanians, among others.

The Athletes’ Commission has highlighted the following results:

• 93% of the competitors were satisfied or more than satisfied with the 2005 World Rowing Championships; 21% rated it at the highest level of satisfaction.
• Fairness is the single most important criteria in evaluating the success of any Regatta.
• There was a 90% satisfaction or better rating for FISA as a whole, with 50% of competitors awarding it with above-average satisfaction.
• It appears that overall the athletes are happy with the number (3 Rowing World Cups, 1 World Rowing Championships) and length (2000m) of official FISA events but would like the opportunity to compete in ?sprint’ and ?head’ events sanctioned by FISA.
• Anti-doping education needed to be more consistent across the athlete community. The competitors showed a mixture of knowledge around the subject.

Click here to download the full summary of the athletes’ questionnaire prepared by the FISA Athletes’ Commission. The summary is also available on the Athletes’ Noticeboard of www.worldrowing.com.

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