Another first for Karapiro

The 2010 World Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro has racked up another world first as organisers confirmed that a special start has been constructed for use at the 1000m mark for the adaptive, or disabled, athletes.

Adaptive athletes race over 1000m, half the length of the traditional 2000m rowing course. Since adaptive races were added to the World Championships programme, the races have started at the standard 2000m start and finished at the 1000m mark, out of sight of the crowd and grandstands.

But at Lake Karapiro a specially built start pontoon will be put in place at the 1000m mark for the adaptive races and the athletes will row down the course past the Embankment General Admission area to finish in front of the 10,000 seater grandstand.

“We have worked very hard to make this happen,”says CEO Tom Mayo. “We were determined to ensure that the adaptive athletes would be cheered home by the crowds and not competing in a vacuum way down the Lake.”

The adaptive start has been made from the old start pontoon built for the 1978 World Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro. A team of volunteers has spent hundreds of hours over the past months rebuilding the pontoon and making the necessary provisions for adaptive athletes.

“It is a logistical challenge to get the new start into place during the racing day,” says Mayo. “Our Field of Play team has less than an hour on some days to get the start into position but we’re confident we can do it.”

Use of the adaptive start is subject to final approval from international rowing federation FISA after the officials arrive in NZ before the Championships.

There will be five boat classes for adaptive athletes in the 2010 World Rowing Championships. NZ will be represented by Danny McBride in the ASM1x class (men’s single scull, arms and shoulders, fixed seat).