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The sun shone brilliantly as 45,000 visitors descended on Montreal’s Gay Village for a celebration of sport. Labeled Rendezvous dans Le Village, the sports festival offered a preview of the 1st World Outgames with animated demonstration sports from Equipe Montreal (Team Montreal) and several sports teams. The first booth to greet visitors in the pedestrian-only St. Catharines street was Club d’Aviron Odawagan, Montreal’s gay and lesbian rowing club.
Visitors oggled over the new club logo (tres chic and tres cool). Rower wanna be’s had the chance to win a free learn to row session, valued at CA$150 in a raffle contest. Best of all is that rowers in Montreal can practice on the course right up to the 1st World Outgames! You guys are so lucky!
The Gay and Lesbian International Sports Association (GLISA) held its first delegate congress this week. The three day meeting brought together delegates from 4 international sports federations and a multitude of sports teams from four continents. As license holder to the World Outgames, the association received an update report from the Montreal Comite Organizateur des 1iere Outgames Mondiaux. At the close of the congress, GLISA announced the formation of a partnership with the City of Copenhagen to deliver the 2nd World Outgames in 2009.
The meeting approved the associations’ bylaws and elected the first board of directors. A strategic plan was approved that targeted the formation of continental associations to represent city teams and sports clubs. A business model was created to support a paid staff and provide vital services to gay and lesbian sports organizations.
During the week and over the following weekend, delegates attended Le Rendezvous d’Or. The four day event included a fundraising gala at Montreal’s hilltop Chateau Mont Royal and a sports festival in the gay village.
GLRF representatives met with Montreal World Outgames organizers to discuss special registration programs for rowers and to review plans for the 1st World Outgames Regatta.
Officials of the City of Copenhagen announced a partnership with the Gay and Lesbian International Sports Association (GLISA) to deliver the 2nd World Outgames in 2009. A formal partnership agreement is to be concluded by year-end. Mr. Martin Geertsen, Mayor of the Committee of Culture and Sport of Copenhagen, was said to be thrilled by the news. He indicated that the event would be a warm up prelude to a possible 2024 International Olympic Games bid.
Copenhagen officials, meeting in Montreal with GLRF representatives, declared without hesitation that rowing would be one of the core sports offered in the 2nd World Outgames. Rowers around the world need only remember the wonderful 2003 Copenhagen Mermaid Regatta to understand that the rowing venue and organizational capacity is already in place and ready to go.
The news of the selection of a city for the 2nd World Outgames was welcomed around the world by athletes and sports teams wondering if the World Outgames would be a one off event. Two cities have already declared their intention to bid for the 2013 3rd World Outgames: Manchester, UK, and Sao Paulo, BR. It is rumored that Berlin is preparing a bid for 2017 4th World Outgames.
Members of the GLRF Regatta Advisory Group visited the City of Chicago for an up close and personal look at the unique challenges to rowing and hosting regattas in the Windy City. For crews, there cannot be a more scenic place to row. The Chicago River offers a spectacular view of the city’s wonderful architectural skyline. Hosting a rowing regatta presents a unique set of challenges: commercial barge traffic, amplified wave activity from vertical walls, narrow waterways, and limited launch and recovery areas. The advisory group spent the entire day with the Sports Director for the Chicago Gay Games, visiting potential sites, discussing the needs of rowers and rowing, and outlining what could work given the planned boat categories and events.
The group submitted a number of recommendations on the duration (2 days max), timing (of regatta week or weekend), lanes (min. of 4 lanes preferred), length (not less than 1,000 meters), buoys (yes please!), held starts (much preferred), launch/recovery location (adjacent to finish vs. start), practice days (1 day min), regatta structure and organization, age categories, rowing rules and sanctioning, medaling, boat rental, boat storage and security, and refund policies.
Several sites were identified as potential locations for the regatta and are being evaluated. An additional rowing event was also discussed to help showcase rowing in Chicago.
India became the 18th country to join the GLRF global community when a rower from the Indian state of Haryana, northwest of Delhi, registered on the website. This marks the first GLRF membership registration in the sub-Asian continent that is defined geographically by India, China, and Southeast Asia. India has vibrant rowing programs in several states and recently brought home two medals from the 10th Asian Junior Rowing Championship in Gifu, Japan.
By coincidence, the 2005 FISA World Rowing Championships will be held in just 10 days time in Gifu, Japan. We can only hope that this registration will encourage other gay and lesbian rowers in India and throughout Asia to join the GLRF worldwide community.
The local media took notice when GLRF hosted its first booth on Henley Island at the 2005 Royal Canadian Henley. The regatta is commonly acknowledged to be the largest rowing regatta in North America. The sports editor for the St. Catharines Standard stopped in for a chat with GLRF Executive Director, Brian Todd.
When the article appeared in the paper two days later, it caused some controversy due to the not-so-friendly comments about GLRF from one of the regatta officials. The reaction from the local populace and rowers at the regatta was swift and almost entirely supportive. Many came by to say they felt the remarks were out of order and unrepresentative of Canadians and added that they were glad GLRF was at the event. Kevin Swayze, son of the late Canadian rowing legend Craig Swayze, made a point of coming by the GLRF booth to express his personal support and to buy a GLRF rOwer t-shirt! Several letters to the editor have also been extremely supportive of the GLRF presence.
The Melbourne Argonauts are gearing up to compete in the Montreal 2006 1st World Outgames regatta. Twenty rowers have already registered and those numbers are expected to climb as the year progresses. In the lead up to the games, the club is hosting a rowing boot camp in Nagambie 23-25 Sep 2005, and a women’s rowing camp in Dimboola 02 –04 Dec 2005. The club’s competitive boats will also participate in the upcoming Rowing Victoria regatta season.
Many rowers and clubs are faced with deciding between competing in the Chicago Gay Games Regatta and the Montreal World Outgames Regatta. According to Argonauts spokesman, Peter Sagar, the club decided to make Montreal the principal focus because the regatta will be staged inn the Montreal Olympic rowing basin. The course is a fully buoyed, 6 lane international standard course. Many of the rowers are also very proud that the regatta will be sanctioned and calendared by the world international rowing body, FISA.
The Melbourne Argonauts welcome other Australian rowers to join them in Montreal. Any interested rowers are encouraged to email the club. Sagar’s parting comment: “We look forward to meeting and racing the world in 2006 in Montreal. SEE YOU THERE!”
A local positive press piece about the upcoming GLRF Italian Sculling Clinic, Destinazione Italia, created a minor scandal in this small town. A reporter interviewed the co-director of the Terralba Rowing Camp, Eliza Camp about the clinic. Sra Camp said the article was very positive but its publication caused an uproar in the local town nonetheless.
Apparently, the new Assessore to Sports for the town of San Miniato read the article and hit the roof. He wrote letters to the editor and resigned from his position, citing that whether hundreds of gays or just five descend on the town, and row in the lake, it will be a slap in the face of the saints and that young children swim in that water where these gays will row, and all that sort of thing.
The controversy was picked up by the online gay Italian press website, GayNews:
first article - Gaynews_it_article1.pdf
second article -Gaynews_it_article2.pdf
third article from the Italian news sites BellaCiao: BellaCiao_GLRFarticle.pdf and Newspaper24 (no article available).
A rowing team based out of the well-known Rio de Janeiro sports club, Flamengo, registered for the coxless mixed four event at the Montreal 1st World Outgames Regatta. This registration marks the first entry for a South American rowing team. Rowing is extremely popular in South America with strong teams in Brasil, Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela.
Congratulations to the newly registered team and we hope rowers around the world will share their training and race times and build some camaraderie and competitive spirit.
The San Francisco Bay Blades were one of five gay teams included in the weeklong, nightly Q Television broadcast that celebrated Pride Week from 7:00 - 9:30 pm. Q Television is available on the east and west coasts of the United States through RCN Satellite, channel 229. GLRF has requested footage of the broadcast and when it becomes available, we will provide a hosting link.
