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.
It was both the Awards Night and the Closing Night of the New York City Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, NewFest. After the all the awards were presented and the thank you’s uttered, the lights dimmed and soon the audience was watching rowers talk about training, sex, and the regatta. Some things never change, right? By the end of the movie, guys were naked, boats were broken, and the queerstroke (queerschlag) team had won the regatta. Such a cool movie!
As the audience filed out of the movie theater, 8 rowers were lined up, with hands-on some crisp, sharp Crew New York brochures wrapped with a GLRF sleeve, and issues of Rowing News. As the rowers called out, “Would you like to row?” and “Rowing in New York City,” all 80 of the brochures were snapped up. The crowd swarmed to Boggart’s for some drinks and chat, and to talk about the movie’s stroke technique.
The 1st World Outgames organising committee has announced the appointments for the 1st World Outgames Regatta Committee. Ms. Guylaine Bernier of Rowing Canada will assume the role of president of the Regatta Committee. She will have the support of a solid team to assist her: Mr. Richard Cabana from the Lachine Rowing Club and the Association Québécoise d’Aviron (Québec Rowing Association), Mr. Karol Sauvé, Rowing Canada national coach and Olympic Basin Events Coordinator, as well as Mr. Gregory Dalmasso and Mr. Philippe Colas from Club d’Aviron Odawagan. Additionally, Ms. Micheline Landry, Mr. Marco Veilleux and Mr. Michel Germain, will serve on the committee.
They have all been actively involved in numerous rowing events. The regatta committee is looking forward to welcoming rowers and crews from around the world, and is hard at work to ensure top-quality, unforgettable competitions at the Olympic Basin, site of rowing competitions during the 1976 Olympic Games in Montréal.
GLRF became the latest country to join the GLRF worldwide community when a university rower registered from the main city of Zagreb.
Although Croatia is a small country, with a population of only 4.5 million, rowing is a very popular sport. Clubs abound in the city and countryside. Croatian rowers have medaled in the Olympics, including the recent silver for Siniša and Nikša Skelin (2-) in Athens. Hopefully, this first registration will open the door for more rowers to come forward and become a visible part of the global community.
A rower from Gent became the first Belgian to join the GLRF global community. The registration pushed the GLRF country county to 16, and expands the GLRF presence in western Europe. Belgium has a strong tradition of rowing, with influences from Germany, France, and Holland. The Montreal World Outgames reported a surge in registrations from Belgium for the 2006 event at the recent Belgian Pride Week. The increased interest in the event may induce other rowers to join GLRF.
The Terralba rowing camp in Tuscany will be the site of the first GLRF Italian Scullers Clinic. The owners of the camp had read about the Craftsbury clinic and contacted GLRF to ask if they could develop a similar event. The event brings a global reach to the GLRF marketing campaign, HitTheWater!2005. Rowers can learn more about the weekend clinic, scheduled for 22 - 25 Sep 2005, by clicking through to the GLRF web page Destinazione Italia.
The full press release can be reviewed here: GLRFmedia_DestinazioneItalia.pdf
[Edit: due to a lack of registrations, the clinic had to be cancelled but the idea was certainly of interest to many members.]
Russia became the 15th country to join the GLRF global community when an elite rower from Moscow registered. This groundbreaking registration will pave the way for other rowers to discover and develop a shared community in Russia. Additionally, the existence of a Russian rower’s membership in GLRF will encourage and promote interest in rowing in the Russian gay and lesbian community as well.
