Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA) congratulates the Ontario Adventure Rowing (OAR) Association on its successful bid to host the 2012 FISA World Rowing Tour. The proposed date of the tour is August 25 to September 1, 2012.
The tour will begin in Sudbury, Ontario. From there, approximately 60 participants from around the world will spend several days in the French River Delta, West Arm of Lake Nippissing area; one day in Collins Bay Inlet in the Killarney Provincial Park and the final day rowing on Ramsay Lake in downtown Sudbury.
"We're excited to have been awarded another FISA Tour in Canada, 10 years after Canada's first FISA Tour on the Rideau Canal in 2002," said Carolyn Tayor-Smith, Rowing Canada's VP Recreation. "I know that the tour participants will be shown a wonderful time by their OAR hosts."
The French River has a rich history. According to Ontario Parks, for thousands of years before Europeans arrived, Aboriginal people used the river as a place to meet and exchange trade goods. Early French explorers and missionaries began traveling through the area in the early 1600s, and Voyageurs were paddling its waters - brigades of canoes portaged around rapids and waterfalls - transporting furs from Canada's great Northwest to market in Montreal. Because of its historic significance, the 110-km waterway was designated a Canadian Heritage River in 1986.
The 2012 tour rowers will travel up to 30 kilometres a day during this tour in special rowing boats.
FISA's World Rowing Tour first took place in 1971 on Lake Constance in Germany and has been organized annually ever since. The goal of tours is to welcome rowers of all nationalities and ages, combining tourism with fitness and fun. The last time the event was held in Canada was the 2002 tour of the Rideau, from Ottawa to Kingston, Ont.
The decision to award the tour to Canada in 2012 was made at the recent FISA Rowing for All Commission meeting in Lyon, France. The application was supported by Rowing Canada Aviron and RowOntario.
This year, the World Rowing Tour will be held in Brisbane, Australia, from October 9 to 17.
See www.worldrowing.com for more information on World Rowing tours.