A posse of celeb rowers from several countries are attending the first few days of Worlds representing a new Legacy Outreach anti-doping education program focusing on current and upcoming athletes to help them understand issues surrounding doping, and hopefully to appreciate the value of playing sports on a clean and level playing field.
Carrying oars and handing out buffs labeled with the hashtag #IRowClean, FISA Athletes Commission Chair Lenka Dienstbach-Wech, Canadian Olympic medallist and WADA Athlete Committee member Andreanne Morin, Australian Olympian Hannah Every-Hall, and Swedish Olympian Frida Svensson, and others are inviting athletes to take an #IRowClean pledge and put their handprint on a wall.
The program is a joint effort between FISA and WADA to come together to try start an educational program that FISA will run in the future, "an education program on antidoping and the virtues of clean sport," Morin said.
"The beauty of this program is that it’s really driven by the athletes," former Australian Olympian Hannah Every-Hall said. "It’s coming from peers, rather than anti-doping authorities getting the message out; it’s actually coming from the athletes themselves."
"On the Athlete's Commission for WADA, we felt this was is a great year to start, because it’s a post-Olympic year, with a new generation of athletes coming on, and it’s when you want to get the message out," Morin said. The group has set up in the athlete's dining hall to greet athletes as they come through, give them some gear, and take a pledge.
"What we’re doing here is having athletes come and take pledge, and tell us their reasons for playing true or rowing clean. They can put their handprint on a wall, and write their sport or discipline and their country. "
The program hopes to start at the elite level and then reach out to even younger athletes.
"A lot of the older athletes hopefully have the message already, so we want to try to bring in junior rowers at some of their regattas, and under-23 rowers," Morin said. "We are trying to get the message out earlier, and show them that it’s cool, and this is what the senior athletes do. We want to encourage athletes to be proud of the fact that they’re getting tested, and that they can say hey, I’m clean, and use that powerful message to say that they’re clean, their sport is clean, their country is clean, and that’s what they are supporting. "
"We know WADA and individual international federations have been promoting clean sport, but we have all seen the issues with doping in the last 18 months, and rather than people becoming apathetic with the same message, we asked ourselves how can we make it relevant," Every-Hall said. "Having the athletes driving it makes it more relevant, and we're trying to spice it up a bit with this program."
Samoan single sculler Daniel Marquardt and US Olympian Sam Stitt support the effort:
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