2009 World Outgames – Day 2
It is the first day of the 1,000m sprint races at Lake Bagsvaerd. The coach and coxies meeting began promptly at 10 am. The referees and the regatta organizing committee seem to have addressed every possible detail and boat and crew conflicts have been sorted. GLRF member and Regatta Chair Adrian T. is looking might suave in his white Cambridge rowing club jacket with coordinating tan board shorts.
The day’s weather varied from sunshine to some winds and an occasional light rain shower. After a colorful opening ceremony led by the incomparable Comtesse de Large, crews took to the water at 13:00h for two hours of preliminaries followed by finals and direct to finals. There were a few cancellations and a few ‘dns’ but overall the races, on 10-minute centers, stayed on schedule.
The atmosphere of the regatta is markedly warm and friendly, in contrast to the somewhat antiseptic feel of the 2006 Montreal 1st World Outgames Regatta. At the finish line, a café tent with tables arranged inside and out brought crews together. A wonderful catered spread of sandwiches, coffee, beer, and non-alcoholic drinks offered athletes a chance to refresh while relaxing and watching the races battle for gold. See the pics on the glrfcentral flickr page .
Due to the generosity and kindness of the Regatta Organizing Committee, GLRF was able to set up a table inside the café tent where participants could shop for GLRF gear: the hip and fashion forward Luv2Row shirt, the GLRF dictionary definition Bisweptual shirt, the LA muscle sleeveless bi-hoodie (sweep and scull) shirt that is a hit with the chicks, the bright red Rowing in every language shirt, and select items from our Rowers Gone Bad partners.
The mens and womens master eights crowned the competition as the final race of the day. GLRF took over the announcing duties from the control tower late in the afternoon. Be forewarned is all we can say. No rower, dress, hat, or hot body was spared in the nonstop GLRF commentary as referees, rowers, and spectators roared with laughter. In a twist of award medal ceremony protocol, the final eight winners received their medals but then only the gold and bronze medallists for the rest of the day took to winner’s podium. Sorry silver will get you later.
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