The International Rowing Federation (FISA) has announced an overhaul of the finals programme at World Rowing events which would bring the Olympic and World Championships finals to be raced over four days instead of two. The changes could be implemented as early as 2010.
At the centre of these changes is the desire to make World Rowing events more appealing to media, especially to broadcasting. After extensive consultations with broadcasting and media experts, two main recommendations came forward: more finals days and shorter programming.
In response to these recommendations, the FISA Council has decided to change the Olympic programme in rowing to spread finals over four days. This decision is in line with discussions with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG). Two scenarios are being discussed and both scenarios will treat rowers in the same event equally in terms of racing and rest days as well as aim to have a rest day following repechages and, if possible, one between semifinals and finals.
The FISA Council also decided to hold the World Rowing Championship finals over four days, with the exact scenario being decided by the FISA Council in January 2010. It is possible that this change could be implemented as early as the 2010 World Rowing Championships.
The format of the three annual Rowing World Cup events shall be reviewed to find ways to attract more broadcasting from general interest television channels. The main idea is to create a one-hour programme featuring the 'blue ribbon' events, the singles and the eights. The finals of these events would be held at the end of the finals programme and the television package would include background information on the athletes, live interviews with the winners and the victory ceremonies. All other events would still be host broadcasted and available to international broadcasters. Television partners and the organising committees are being consulted on this at the moment.
The days of competition at the World Rowing Junior Championships have also been reviewed, with the proposal of moving the regatta to be raced from Thursday through to Sunday rather than the present Wednesday to Saturday programme. A further decision is to spread the finals over two days. This proposal is aimed at both the World Rowing Junior Championships and the World Rowing Under 23 Championships and, again, is to spread out the excitement generated by the medals ceremonies. At present the Under 23 Championships include 21 finals so spreading them over two days will make for a much more manageable amount of finals. Both 2010 organising committees for these events are positive about the changes and the exact programming will be decided in January.
National rowing federations have been asked to submit comments to FISA by 15 January 2010 with the FISA Council meeting again on 22 January 2010 to finalise the programmes for these 2010 World Rowing Events.
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