The GLRF Blog

For those who are Firefox browser fans, check out the new ‘personas’ which allow you to personalize your browser tool bar with color and themes.

If you search for the term ‘rowing,’ you’ll find several of these themes. We searched under rowing, rower, sculling, and crew. Found several under rowing and one under crew.

These personas add a little rowing flavour to your web browsing experience. Yeah, sure there are other personas, like male models, gay, and lesbian but we focused on the rowing themes.

We just created a new group on Network Now! where GLRF members can share their personas and also list those they created. The group is called ‘Firefox Browser Rowing Personas.’

Tags: just the buzz // Add Comment »

We missed the mention in the April issue of Rowing News and a quick look at the USRowing website doesn’t give any indication of the event but the 2010 USRowing Collegiate Championship Regatta is the most important new regatta event to emerge in a long time.

2010 will be the first year for this regatta but USRowing is committed to supporting this event moving forward.

The 2,000 metre event will be held at Mercer Lake near Princeton 22 – 23 May 2010. What makes this event so important is the wide variety of boat classes that are available for competition, and the open entry classification. We had to use the old index finger word counting out loud trick to make sure we got it all: 11 men’s events and 10 women’s events.  Yes, there are events for singles, doubles, coxless fours (NICE!), pairs, quads, lightweights of all manner, and yeah, eights…  Beyond the attraction of the huge number of boat classes is the fact that any university rower with any program, varsity, club, or even unaffiliated, can compete. That’s unprecedented, and it also, finally, puts the United States on the same competitive field with Europe.

Now a set of twins studying at Occidental College in Pasadena and rowing out of Marina Del Rey can compete at a University Championship and then go on to compete in Europe. It means a 12-year old US sculler can continue his focus through high school and at university, and then be competitive with the powerful Slovakians at the World Championships and the Olympics.  It means Europeans studying in the United States have a chance at continuing their training in boat classes that are otherwise ignored at most if not all US collegiate rowing programs before they return to their native countries to prepare for elite training.

We’re looking at hosting a booth at the event for the simple reason that the regatta will attract rowers from so many rowing programs, and because we like the underlying meaning of the regatta: it’s inclusive.  That and USRowing sent us an email and said we’d like you to be there!

Tags: Rowing Regattas // Add Comment »

The Florida Rowing Center sent out an email reminding those of us on the mailing list that they still have some sculling sessions available through 02 May 2010. Once the season ends, you can pick up a great shell at incredible prices as the Rowing Center jettison’s their season demo boats.

Find the list of boats for sale here.

The Center is located in West Palm Beach on a lake that has no other boat traffic. Take a look at the GLRF visit to the Florida Rowing Center in 2006:

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It’s official: Antwerp will host the 2013 World Outgames 03 – 11 Aug 2013. The Gay and Lesbian International Sports Association (GLISA), the international body that licenses the World Outgames, has announced they have signed a definitive agreement with World Outgames Antwerpen to host the event. The organizers have said rowing will be one of the featured sports at the event.

The news follows months of speculation that the 2009 Copenhagen World Outgames might have been the last. Naysayers across world latched onto the small participant numbers at Copenhagen (~5500) and with barely disguised shadenfreude, unilaterally declared that the World Outgames had melted into a puddle. While it is true that the world economic crisis has made organizing and hosting any multi-sport event a challenge, the City of Copenhagen’s tourist arm, Wonderful Copenhagen, recently announced a positive financial result for the 2009 World Outgames.

GLRF is already in discussions with the sports organizers of the 2013 World Outgames on possible formats and locations for the rowing event. The initial proposal for the rowing event was on the Netekanaal, southeast of Wijnegim. The Royal Antwerp Rowing Club is located there and a regatta was hosted there in September 2009. (See pictures of the area). The challenge for the location is the relative narrow width of the canal, and the small boat facilities. GLRF has proposed that the rowing event be held at Hazewinkel, a FISA certified world championship course 18km. south of Anvers (fr. Antwerp). With the expansive rowing facilities and a large water sports centre, managed by the Belgian Flemish Sports agency (Boso), the location would accommodate a large number of competitors for the 2013 World Outgames regatta

Got some thoughts? Post a comment here!

Tags: Rowing Regattas // 2 Comments »

GLRF member Cassi N. sent us an email about the recently announced Dad Vail Regatta move.  The Dad Vail Regatta Organizing Committee, facing sharply lower sponsorship revenues as well as significant regatta operating losses in the past year, was forced to look elsewhere to host the Dad Vail Regatta.  See the attached letter. The Borough of Rumson in Monmouth County, New Jersey, apparently offered some very sweet financial support.

Perhaps some of our GLRF membership will be able weigh in on the relative merits of the Navesink River course.  For crews, the weather, winds and currents are essential.  For vendors, the layout and location at a regatta is critical, and of course the visiblity to the participants.

For those of us who attend the regatta circuit, this was stunning news.  GLRF hosted a booth at the 2008 Dad Vail Regatta.  The event was the second most costly in the GLRF booth hosting budget that year (bested only by the Head of the Charles) and our experience at the regatta was less than pleasant (mostly due to weather). Beyond the astronomical vendor fees, and the travel and shipping costs, the losses from poor sales was a shock to the GLRF organization.

At the 2008 Dad Vail Regatta, vendor booths were strewn along the walking path parallel to river, with very little planning towards making a village atmosphere.  The result was a loss in the opportunity to capture the attention of the participants.  We hope the new location in Rumson will provide a better venue for vendors to be co-located so that crews and spectators can have the opportunity to visit a number of booths in the limited time they have off the water.

It is important to remember that vendors are a crucial part of the support to the rowing community and the success of a regatta.  Part of the ambiance of a rowing regatta is the camaraderie that you feel in talking with teams off the water.  Having a vendor village where participants can mingle creates the warmth and interaction that you experience at a rowing regatta.  Hiking vendor fees each year to make up for escalating costs is not the answer.   In this economic downturn, vendors are struggling and boat builders are going out of business.  If a regatta turns into a empty shell because vendors simply cannot afford to attend, what’s left is just timing officials and registration tents, and spectators will stop coming, and crews will look elsewhere to compete.

We hope this new location is a success for the Dad Vail Organizing Committee, the competitors, and the rowing community (which includes the vendors).

Tags: just the buzz // 1 Comment »

Putting nationalistic politics aside, we have to cheer for the selection of Rio de Janeiro as the host of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.  Our GLRF Brasil members will be whooping and hollering since their rowing venue, Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, will be host to the rowing competition. Talk about picturesque!  The venue is located right in the heart of the city and visitors will be able to watch the rowing races from a number of vantage points.

The other cities bidding for the Olympics were Tokyo, Madrid, and Chicago.  No doubt our GLRF United States members in Chicago will be forlorn at their city’s site selection loss but we have to wonder about the proposed rowing venue on Lake Michigan. Critics had assailed the plan as windy and exposed.  To cap it off, the venue was to be temporary.  The entire breakwater placement was scheduled for removal after the Olympics. How does that benefit the local rowing community? Whatever happened to using Crystal Lake as the rowing venue? Sure it would have needed some major excavation but after the Olympics, the Chicago rowing community would have had a world class rowing facility. All of us in the gay and lesbian rowing community could have taken smug satisfaction that we led the groundbreaking path for an Olympic rowing venue when the 2006 Gay Games featured rowing at Crystal Lake.

Here’s a look at the rowing venues for all four of the bidding cities . It’s interesting to see the temporary and permanent budget costs and the proposed layouts. Tokyo’s proposal certainly made sense given the density of that city’s infrascture.

Parabéns Brasil!

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29 Sep 2009 – Köln; Just watched the live telecast from the Gay Games website and yes, Cleveland was awarded the license to host the 2014 Gay Games.  There will undoubtedly be much discussion about the winning bid but what does this mean for rowers?  Like Boston, and Washington, Cleveland included rowing as one of the featured sports in their bid.

Check out the GLRF analysis of the three rowing proposals , discussed in the Boston Bee.   There is a discussion area setup on the ALL OARS board about the Cleveland bid , and the first reactions and suggestions from the rowing community.

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Yes, it was another Gold’s Gym Hollywood epiphany. There may or may not be a correlation to doing a chest workout but the idea came between sets of decline chest presses in a typical ‘aha moment.’ Subdomains create easy links to all of the groups on Network Now! Rowers can use them as links for City Sport Clubs and glbt City Teams to bring rowers together in a city where there may not be a specific gay rowing division as the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation so fondly likes to refer to the lack of rowing in their big City Clubs.. . [ahem!]. GLRF members can also use them to just create links for gay rowing groups in local lgbt sports directories.

It’s what GLRF is all about – creating a connected community. With our web hosting service, we can create unlimited subdomains .

For those of you who are not versed in domains and subdomains, well glrf.info is a domain and a subdomain is a subdirectory to the main domain. So we just logged on to our control panel and created a subdomain called ‘thenewrowmantics.’ It looks like this: http://thenewrowmantics.glrf.info

One of the magic elements with subdomains is the ability to redirect that subdomain web address to any link. So we created subdomains for all of the current Network Now! groups, and then added redirections which takes the web surfer directly to the particular Network Now! group.
Try these out for size:

http://thenewrowmantics.glrf.info

http://londonwomen.glrf.info

http://rowteamaustin.glrf.info

http://whoars.glrf.info

and so on!!!!

Tags: Back to GLRF // Add Comment »

Cadence Rowing, the company that brought you the stroke rate watch, has just introduced a new dress watch called the Oarsman Remus .

The Remus introduction follows on the heels of the Oarsman.  So why would you need to buy a fancy dress watch for rowing? Simple – the Oarsman chronograph series come with an integrated integrated stroke rate reading (20 to 60 strokes per minute) in their trademark spiral design.   Very helpful if you want to gauge the stroke rates of competing crews, unless you’re Tom Gallagher whose many talents include a stroke coach embedded in his skull.

Both chronographs are waterproof well below where you’ll be spending much time, and they come in a fancy gift box.  [Read perfect end of the year banquet gift for the rower who did the most for the club.]

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The last day and the sun is out!  Some rowers have already left, are leaving today, or will leave this weekend. Everyone is catching up on last minute sightseeing and for those who can afford the prices, some shopping. The Danish design stores, be it the department stores, the lighting stores, or the furniture stores are a marvel. They really know how to create such great, visually appealing furnishings. Even the kitchenware looks totally hip.

The all-night revelers are slowly stirring after the SML party that started Thursday night at 23:00h and stretched on until 06:00h.  Some rowers have returned to the Danske Studenters Roklub to help unload and stow the inrigger boats from the Head of the Harbor race.

Friday evening brings everyone together athletes of all interest for stories, Facebook and phone number sharing, flirting, and final farewells at the Oscar Café.  The small bar is overwhelmed so most of the Outgames athletes stand outside, under a small tent or just in the street.  Taxis and bikes fight to get through the crowds as everyone relaxes and drinks beer in open containers [Oh my, such immoral and shocking conduct on a city street!].

At the airport [CPH], gays and lesbians populate the security line with knowing looks of yes, we’re family and no, those kids are not ours.  Boys are reportedly enjoying their last flings in the secret corners of certain airline lounges while their boyfriends, oblivious to the hidden passion, relax and sip juice.

As the rowers head home, medals packed, it’s a good time to reflect on what brought this regatta together: a dedicated regatta organizing committee, lots of volunteers, the support of the Danish National Rowing Federation, and easygoing, good humored referees.  The one concern is the lack of GLRF members in the regatta. Of the 157 registered Outgames rowing participants, only 64 are members of GLRF.  As much as GLRF worked feverishly to promote the 2009 World Outgames Regatta, many rowers still do not see the value in membership.  GLRF members from Canada, the Czech Republic, and Norway top the list with 100% GLRF member participation.  Unfortunately, the numbers decrease from there: United States – 65%, Denmark – 54%, Brazil – 50%, France – 50%, Ireland – 33%, Deutschland – 23%, Australia – 21%, United Kingdom – 11%, and Switzerland – 0%.   What holds these rowers back from GLRF registration? Is it the lack of perceived value? Is it the cost of registration (free!)?  Is it a general lack of interest in creating a worldwide community where all rowers can keep updated on gay and lesbian rowing activity?  Certainly questions to consider given the amount of time and effort involved by GLRF to promote rowing.

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