Qatar – new rowing territory
Qatar is seeking to increase its presence in the international world of sports. Host of the
Asian Games in 2006, it is now bidding for global events such as the 2020 Olympic Games
and 2022 Soccer World Cup. But Qatar has also been looking to develop sport nationally
among the Qatari people.
The training he gave Jallouf and Aldous in preparation
for Brive included four to five weekly sessions lasting
two hours each and involved training on the water,
on the erg and in the gym. In the month leading up
to the Junior Championships, the number of weekly
sessions was increased to eight.
Rowing is a very young sport in Qatar, with the
Qatar Sailing & Rowing Federation being one of the
newest members of the FISA family, having joined
in 2002. Despite the novelty of the sport, the Qataris
are aiming to widen their rowing talent base and
are working towards performing internationally.
have been introduced and will be included in our
Schools Olympic Programme by next year,” says
Telfat. The next step, he says, will be to organize
on-water rowing competitions.
Doha, Qatar’s capital city, does not have any 2,000m
regatta course, but there are plans to build one.
During the 2006 Asian Games, rowing competitions
took place on a 1,000m, four-lane course near the
city centre. Now, rowers currently train in Doha
harbour “early in the morning or in the evening,”
explains Amjad, “and when there is no problem
on the sea. But rowers spend part of the time in
Singapore or China (Shanghai) for training camps.”
“The Qatar Olympic Committee is financing the development of rowing in Qatar,” says Ali Nasser Telfat, Secretary General of the Qatar Sailing & Rowing Federation. “With each passing year interest in this sport is increasing amongst the locals.”
In 2009, Qatar saw its first international success,
with rowers taking part in a World Rowing event
for the first time. The event was the World Rowing
Junior Championships in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France,
and the competitors were Ali Jumah Jallouf and
Abdel Fawaz Aldous, who raced in the junior men’s
double sculls. Although they did not score the
best results, it was not a disappointment as their
expectations had been low. “For them it was a
learning experience,” says Telfat. “They learned
a lot from Brive. They were happy to see what
the competition was like at the real standard and
enjoyed being with other rowers.”
“FISA is excited to see how rowing will develop
in Qatar in the future, as there is more and more
rowing activity in the region and Qatar with its
hosting of major sporting events seems to be ready
to take a lead,” says FISA Development Manager
Sheila Stephens-Desbans. “With the climate in the
winter months it may also provide an interesting
venue for winter training camps in the future if a
full course is constructed.”
In view of training new coaches, FISA is sending
experts to Qatar to give level 1 and 2 coaching courses
within the frame of the Olympic Solidarity Programme.
A rowing competitor during the
2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
Talent identification is carried out in schools, mainly
using ergometer tests. To increase the exposure of
young people to rowing, the federation has begun
to organise competitions in schools.
“Inter-school indoor rowing
competitions
Qazi M. Amjad, a former international athlete from
Pakistan and FISA-trained coach, was hired
by the federation in 2005 to help
develop rowing in
Qatar.
■ D.M.-F. with the kind contribution of
Marc Ventouillac, member of FISA’s media commission
