> you will find many clubs whose very names
hint at their memberś country of origin.”
Experiencing how the rowing community is
organised in other countries turns the World
Rowing Tour not only into a sporting holiday,
but also a cultural encounter, as Helmut Hoppe
says of his South American journey: “During
the tour, we saw several rowing clubs. Some
of them are very big and have between 1,000
and 2,000 club members. The Buenos Aires
Rowing Club, which organised the FISA tour,
was founded in 1873 and is now the leading
rowing club in Argentina. For most of us it was
absolutely impressive to see the big Victorian
boat house with tennis courts, swimming pool
and a lot of club personnel. Furthermore the club
owns two islands in the delta – unbelievable for
Europeans.”
Caroline Tumball from Great Britain describes
what she observed about Argentinean rowing:
“It seems most adults row for fitness and fun.
The social side seems very important, with most
clubs having a large function room or even a
commercially-run restaurant, where members
can meet for lunch or dinner. One of the major
problems facing Argentinean rowing clubs is
the lack of local boat builders. Local craftsmen
are able to maintain the old wooden boats and
oars like the ones we used, but top-class racing
boats and blades have to be imported from
the USA or Europe, which makes them very
expensive.”
© Jens Chr. Kolberg
During the World Rowing Tour, participants
at times need to adjust to a variety of rowing
conditions as Bursztyn shares: “The route took
in a major river (Paraná) which we shared with
shipping from Turkey, China, Europe as well as
smaller coastal ships. We also rowed on minor
channels of the delta, some so narrow that our
blades touched both banks simultaneously. The
boats were stable, but represented a hard pull.
While not a problem most of the
time, on the very last leg of the tour, we ended
up rowing against a fierce current, often making
far less than a strolling pace as gauged by ladies
pushing strollers on the shore - disheartening
and gruelling for perhaps two hours.”
And of course, having the opportunity to
appreciate landscapes very different from those
in your home country makes the experience
memorable as well, as Margrit Steiner >
