A new lake – “The Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake” is to be developed in the Thames Valley and should be operational in 2002, a Sport of England Press Release stated yesterday (Thursday).

The lake – named after the legendary rowing partnership of Sir Steven Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent – will be built on the existing site of a Marina at Caversham Lakes and will be part of a network of elite training facilities for the English Institute of Sport.

The new facility will be a 2,200 metre by 100 metre lake, large enough to accommodate six buoyed lanes. The development will also include facilities to monitor the boat/crew speed and a roadway for coaching and video crews. The boathouse – to be called “Sherriff’s Boathouse” (after the Chairman of Thames and Kennet Marina Ltd David Sherriff) – will be equipped with crew and coaches rooms, physiotherapy/ medical treatment areas, a video presentation suite, sports science labs, ergometer and weight training rooms as well as accommodation for boatmen and technicians. The boathouse facilities will cater for up to 100 athletes at any one time.

The project is being developed in association with the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA), the sport’s governing body and will be commissioned by Sport England. Once completed the facilities will be managed by the ARA.

The High Performance Coaching Team will be based at The Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake, which is a priority training site for the Thames Valley, “the centre of gravity for British rowing”.

An award from the Sport England Lottery Fund will finance the freehold purchase of the site and land, pay part of the re-location of the marina currently on the site and develop the sporting and ancillary facilities.

Work on site is expected to begin early in the new year and the first 1000 metre section of the course will be ready for ARA use following winter training in 2002.