Rowing ahead of Commonwealth Games

Rowers from Commonwealth countries recently raced in Canada at the 2010 Commonwealth Rowing Championships with Canada finishing at the head of the field.

Competitors from Australia, Canada, England, Wales, Scotland and Norfolk Island raced in Welland, Ontario, at the Welland International Flatwater Centre. Racing over two days under excellent racing conditions, Canada earned 186 points overall to put them at the top of the points table. Scotland followed with 153 points and Australia finished third with 134 points. Races were over 2000m and the ‘dash’ 500m distance. The dash races proved especially popular amongst the spectators due to the tight finishes.

Both Australia and Canada had team members that came directly to this regatta from the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Brest, Belarus. Patricia Obee and Elisabeth Fenje of Canada raced together in the lightweight women’s double sculls in Brest. At Welland they raced in the lightweight women’s pair and double picking up gold in the double and silver in the pair. They also finished first in the women’s quad and Fenje won the lightweight women’s single 500m dash.

Overall most athletes competed in more than one event including Norfolk Island’s sole representative, Simon Nola, who picked up a bronze in the lightweight men’s single 500m dash.

Press officer for Rowing Canada Aviron Jackie Skender commented that there were a number of events held around the race events: “There were social events that brought the organisers, the host city’s officials and team staff together. There was even a fun eights race where the team managers and coaches from the different teams competed against the athletes (the coaches/managers finished a respectable last!)”

“Overall, it was a great regatta. It was great to see teams from as far away as Australia and hopefully such participation will grow in support of Commonwealth rowing in the future,” said Skender.

This year’s Commonwealth Games is to be held in Delhi, India, in October and recently the sport of rowing was upgraded at the Games to Category 2 which means it is now an optional sport. The 2018 Commonwealth Games will be the earliest that it could be considered as one of the Commonwealth Games sports. The next Commonwealth Rowing Championships is scheduled for Scotland in 2014, the same year that Glasgow, Scotland, will host the Commonwealth Games.

The Commonwealth consists mainly of countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. Called the Commonwealth of Nations, this is an intergovernmental organisation which has 54 member states.

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