One thing is for certain this Wednesday evening; FISA made the right call on not racing this afternoon. The entire course was whitecapping, signage had to be lain down on the ground, the finish line tent was squealing and bending, and it would have even been hard to launch.
If racing this morning was an option, that would have been great; it was probably the best weather of the week. But the start system had not been tested, athletes were not ready, and Thursday makes more sense in all kinds of ways - made easier by the fact that only the 12 openweight Olympic boat classes events plus the coxed fours are contested at U19 Worlds, not the full World Championships docket.
I am told by a local that we have been unlucky with the weather - not to the extent that 'it never rains here,' but that the extent to which area is getting clobbered this week is not the typical mid-late summer weather (this photo looks a lot better). C'est la vie.
For first impressions so far, I would preface with this caveat: the rain has not helped in grokking the site; anyone who has done a college visit on a rainy day knows that it can be hard to factor in the weather when trying to form an impression.
That said, the course itself appears to be pretty good - although the lane lines were starting to roam on Wednesday - and there is some warmup area that is not right along the racing lanes for which the crews go under a pier that goes out to the finish line - this separation good both for crews that are racing and warming up.
The neighboring area is modest but appears to be well-serviced - Vaires-Sur-Marne and neighboring Torcy are 'urban municipality' train station towns along the line to Disneyland Paris, which is about 20km east of the venue. It is possible to imagine the site handing fairly large numbers of people, although you never really know until they show up. I should note that the train stations are nice, and those trains will be helpful come Games time next year.
WorldRowing has specifically not called the event an official Olympic test event, noting that 'Some of the operations will be tested ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic regattas next year.'
The general buzz has it that there is an overly casual feel to the preparation, maybe more like what might happen at a Masters regionals than a world championship, not to mention an Olympic test event; but if the LOC gets to work on the site and the vibe, it can work.
The entire site was massively upgraded in 2019, but the suspicion arises that the U19 LOC may have leaned on that a bit too much, without much specific prep for this year’s U19 championship, including some more common housekeeping that really should have happened. Tightening up the course, doing some grading to weatherproof the bike paths, and a few other things here and there all can be easily resolved for an Olympic event.
There is a somewhat conspicuous absence of World Championships! signage and pomp, and the opening ceremonies were unusually short - a blessing in the minds of many - without the jetpack water dudes, comedians, or display of local culture of past openings - just a decent string quartet that played as folks walked in, a quick flag procession, a few speeches by functionaries, and done.
Some opening ceremonies have been wild, with water jetpack fliers, comedians, and displays of local culture; for example, take your pick: mimes on stilts flanked by 30-foot inflatable beer cans asking Denis Oswald if he likes Trance while putting the FISA flag upside down; or maybe Denis Oswald being stared down in a Maori ceremony; junior rowers crammed inside a castle; a water skier going too fast, culminating in crashing into the dock (see the arm upper right).
Anyway - some operations were left until the last minute; from our seat there were no outlets and no power in the media area until 3pm Tuesday, which would have been the day before racing, and some coaches have mentioned a few other things that were not in place, including some security oversight concerns, with treatment of attendees on the, let's say, brusque side (without getting into hearsay).
The start is solid and functional; my guess might be that this is the standard start line for the venue, and that the Games might see a more robust starting line operation.
The site has a fair amount of physical plant - the launching area and boatyard are semi-circled by a long row of boat bays and offices that you can get up on, and a lot of folks did. It could be an epic gathering of rowers watching racing from up there next year.
When you are up there, if you just turn around you are about 100 years from the Olympic whitewater venue, at which athletes are practicing this week. You can see the overall site in this tweet from Paris2024, which I can confirm is more or less accurate as regards the structures on site.
This year's athlete dining area is just one corner of a cavernous space just below the finish line, which should be able to absorb at least some of the athlete facilities, television sprawl, Olympic gimcracks, and more. We have seen nearly empty spaces turn nearly into small towns in an Olympic year, so if the 2024 folks are on top of it, it should come together.
The boatyard area seems solid and easy to navigate to me; not too tight, with some open areas to put boats if you need to do some rigging, a solid tarmac that mostly drained well during the rain, and not a lot of drama with respect to launching and landing.
There should be plenty of grandstand space for the U19 racing, the majority of it uncovered; the covered area has maybe a few dozen seats, some of which will be assigned; most attendees are going to get wet.
For the Olympics, given the long, cement pier, and the traffic pattern that goes under it, it is hard to see how the venue accommodates floating seating on the opposite side - but you never know.
The tldr is: as a general regatta site it is pretty well outfitted, but the U19 LOC may have leaned on that a bit too much as mentioned above, missing a chance really to show off the site this year. But it is not that hard to imagine this site cleaning up really well – and with a slightly quartering tailwind apparently being the prevailing conditions – some intense and fast racing for 2024.
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