Moving with
the times
© Peter Spurrier/Intersport-Images
for a sport whose
values are timeless
The sport of rowing is as old as the pyramids,
yet each year thousands of young people
from around the world come under the
spell of this sport.
Rowing as a sport requires a high degree of
personal discipline, the complete immersion of self
into the team, a level of commitment to each other
and a singular end goal – on the surface everything
a modern young person might rage against.
(“Can I row around the lake without falling in?”) or
competition (“Can I win a medal?”).
our competitions and, more importantly, the
messages for which our role models stand.
Do we disserve the younger generations when we
think of them as extreme thrill seekers, motivated
by celebrity and instant fame and driven by
personal gratification? Of course we do. Young
people today have the same basic needs from
sport as the rest of us did when we were children:
a sense of belonging and identity; opportunities
to discover and learn from new experiences; a
sense of accomplishment and celebration; and the
desire to test one’s self either through endeavour
The world in which young people live in today
is different to the world at any time in the past:
today everything moves more quickly, there are
huge amounts of information bombarding our
youth; communications are instant and there
are many more opportunities drawing away
their attention. In short everything competing
for their attention is faster and more and more
exciting.
In August this year the IOC will hold the first ever
Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, and FISA are
embracing the opportunity to explore, with the
young competitors, how to hold on to the past
and redefine the future.
Guin Batten (far left) wins
Olympic silver at the 2000
Olympic Games in Sydney,
Australia, along with
crewmates (l to r) Katherine
Grainger, Gillian Lindsay and
Miriam Batten.
By using the eyes of young people, we strengthen
the images and words we use, the sponsors we can
attract, the way we dress, deliver and communicate
At FISA we are looking to find ways to preserve
the values of the sport and, at the same time,
develop new and vibrant ways to present the
sport. Developing a brand with which young
people can identify and ways of communicating
rowing that is compatible with the ways young
people live their lives.
■ Guin Batten
