Paralympic Rowing to Offer Intimate Fan Experience

Tickets are still available to see Rowing at the London 2012 Paralympic Games 28 Apr 2012

By IPC

“Because of the great atmosphere we’ll have at Eton Dorney, it’ll be an experience that you’ll never forget.”

Spectators who come and see Rowing at the London 2012 Paralympic Games will get to train their eyes on both the start and finish lines.

The world-class venue at Eton Dorney (around 40km west of London) is set in a 400-acre park with a nature conservation area, with the course taking competitors past the historic backdrop of Windsor Castle.

With Paralympic races spanning 1,000m, rather than 2,000m in Olympic Rowing, fans will see the excitement of the race from beginning to end.

“The venue is like an arena because it’s very compact at Eton Dorney,” said Matt Smith Executive Director at FISA, the International Rowing Federation.

“Where we had big vast distances in Beijing, we have a more compact situation in Eton, which will make an even better atmosphere,” added Smith.

“Because of the great atmosphere we’ll have at Eton Dorney, it’ll be an experience that you’ll never forget.”

With Great Britain fielding a strong team, which includes Tom Aggar, who has dominated the men’s Single Sculls since before Beijing, Smith is confident that the crowd atmosphere will be something exceptional.

“The big group of British fans that we expect at the games regatta will create a really exciting atmosphere,” he said.

And the crowd can expect to see sport like never before, as the competition within adaptive Rowing has really expanded since Beijing.

“We’ve been able to attract more talented athletes to do rowing from other sports, and the quality of the athletes has gone up, the number of countries has increased a lot and it’ll be some great athletes competing out there,” said Smith

Paralympic Rowing will span three days from 31 August to 2 September and will include four medal events: the men’s and women’s Single Sculls as well as two mixed events – the Coxed Four and Double Sculls.

The 2,200m, eight-lane rowing course with a separate return lane was constructed to international standards and has been enhanced for Olympic and Parlaympic competition.

“Eton Dorney is a well established venue set in the heart of rowing country,” said Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee. “It is a world-class venue that hosts elite level competition as well as community events, and is a venue of which we can all be proud.”

Improvement work included the installation of a new 50m-span bridge over a widened

entrance to the return lake for vehicles and pedestrians (see above video).

A cut-through between the competition lake and the return lake, and a new bridge over this cut-through area have also been constructed. The new cut-through enables rowers to move between the rowing course and return lake.