BRIGHTON, MA - This Sunday, a week before they compete in the 2010 Head Of The Charles Regatta, six athletes from Iraq's National Rowing Team will join U.S. military veterans who have returned from tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan to train on the Charles River, trade tips on rowing skills, and demonstrate how effectively the sport of rowing brings people together.
Six rowers, including two Olympians, a coach, and a team manager from Iraq were brought to the United States by a group of supporters including Community Rowing, Inc., the largest nonprofit rowing organization in the world, and the Head Of The Charles Regatta. The athletes have been in rigorous daily training from the Riverside Boat Club in Cambridge.
On Sunday, Oct. 17, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., the Iraqis will join 12 U.S. military veterans in a 500-meter and other short races on the Charles in two "eights." The U.S. veterans are students of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Business School, or Harvard School of Law. Most have been members of the special forces and served more than one tour of military duty.
After rowing in the 46th annual Head Of The Charles Regatta a week later, on Sunday, Oct. 24, the Iraqi team will travel to compete in the Asian Games in November.
"We are pleased to co-host the Iraqi athletes and wish them every success on race day," said Frederick V. Schoch, executive director of the Head Of The Charles Regatta.
The approximate schedule for Sunday, Oct. 17, at Community Rowing, Inc.'s Harry Parker Boathouse on Nonantum Road in Brighton:
-1:30 p.m., Iraqi rowers will train U.S. veterans, most of whom are unfamiliar with rowing, on ergometers, or indoor rowing machines.
-2 p.m., Iraqis and veterans will train on the river in two eight-person boats for half an hour.
-2:45 p.m., the two eights will compete in short races on the river.
-3 p.m., rowers will dock and carry the sculls to the boathouse.
-3:15 p.m., the rowers will be available for interviews.
Two coaches and two coxswains from Community Rowing will participate. The U.S. veterans participating are Bruce Estok, Bob Notch, Keith Saunders, John Richardson, Chuck Cody, Kevin Kennedy, Kevin Felix, Shanan Farmer, Rob Dickerson, Mark Ciero, Alex Roesler, and Mike Day.
BACKGROUND OF THE IRAQI TEAM VISIT
Financial support for the Iraqi team visit is made possible by the charitable Iraqi Understanding Fund, organized by Community Rowing, Inc. Community Rowing's goal is spreading the word of the fitness and fun elements of rowing, once widely thought of as an elite sport. CRI'S motto is "rowing for all."
For the Iraqis, the opportunity is a chance to share their love of rowing and some of what they've learned. "We've been on the receiving end of incredible good will and feel very fortunate to be here. This is one way to show how much we appreciate all that people have done for us," said Iraqi Olympic rower Haidar Nozad.
For Community Rowing's Executive Director Bruce Smith, the afternoon is another opportunity for Community Rowing to live up to its motto of rowing for all. Said Smith, "This is a chance for people who, under other circumstances, might not have had met. It's about sharing an interest and breaking bread together. That's the way change comes about."
The Iraqi team is in the United States for about two months, working to build relationships worldwide and to continue their training and preparation for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, this November and the London Olympics in 2012.
The team spent a week in Princeton, N.J., home of U.S. Rowing, and has been training twice daily at the Riverside Boat Club in Cambridge on the Charles River. The Iraqis arrived in Boston in late September.
Among the visitors are the Iraqi men's Olympic double sculls crew of Haidar Nozad and Hamzah Hussein Jebur, who competed in Beijing in 2008.
Smith said rowing, one of the original Olympic sports, "continues to light the way to the best in the human spirit more than a century after the first games were staged. CRI, Riverside, Head Of The Charles Regatta directors, and all American rowers join me in wishing these young athletes the best as they prepare for competition."
The inspiration for the visit stemmed from a trip last spring to northern Iraq taken by Smith, who has been a U.S. National Team coach for five years, and rowing advocate Bill Engeman of Cincinnati. The pair traveled to Lake Dokan in northern Iraq to join up with the Iraqi Rowing Federation and spent several days there working with the Iraqi rowers and coaches, praising the Iraqis for their skills and determination.
In this fall's reciprocal visit, the Iraqis joined Community Rowing, Inc., the largest nonprofit rowing organization in the world, at its award-winning Harry Parker Boathouse, now in its third year of operation at 20 Nonantum Road in Boston's Brighton neighborhood. They attended Community Rowing's 25th Anniversary dinner with 400 other celebrants on Sept. 25.
The Italian company Filippi Boats is providing the racing shell for Haidar Nozad in the Men's Championship Single event at the Head of the Charles Regatta.