FISA, the international governing body of rowing, today confirmed that the Men's Lightweight Eight would be removed from the international events programs beginning in 2016, owing to a low number of entries in the previous three World Championship regattas.
"According to Rule 36 of the FISA Rule Book, if there are less than seven starters in three consecutive World Rowing Championship regattas, then that event shall be automatically removed from the programme of subsequent World Rowing Championship regattas," explained FISA Executive Director Matt Smith in an email distributed widely to FISA organizations. "The lightweight men's eight has had the following number of boats competing at the most recent three World Rowing Championships: 2013: 3, 2014: 5, 2015: 5. As required by Rule 36, the lightweight men's eight will not figure on the programme of the 2016 World Rowing Senior, Under 23 and Junior Championships in Rotterdam this coming August. The provisional programme is being updated to reflect this situation."
The Lightweight Men's Eight narrowly escaped the fate of removal from the program previously, when FISA removed the event after the 2004 World Championships, then reinstated it for the 2005 World Championships in Gifu (JPN) following a member vote at the 2005 FISA Extraordinary congress, in which of 72% of delegates voted in favor of a proposal by Rowing Australia to revive the event.
"I think the worldwide rowing community loses a lot with the removal of the event from the Senior World Championship roster," said Community Rowing's Bruce Smith, who coached the USA Lightweight Men's Eight to a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships in Aiguebelette. "It is a great development tool and has a created a legacy of hundreds of ambassadors for World Rowing Championships over the decades. Whether or not rowing in the LM8+ leads to an Olympic medal, Turkey, Japan and Australia have all managed entries in the past several years."
Experts agree that a second reinstatement of the event is a long shot at this point.