The 2012 Olympic & Paralympic regattas
are taking shape
Matt Smith
Olympic Qualification for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games regattas has started. From
28 August to 4 September 2011 in Bled, Slovenia, 402 athletes will qualify 129 boats for the
Olympic regatta and 72 adaptive rowers will qualify 32 boats for the Paralympic regatta in London.
© FISA
Intense racing is expected on Lake Bled as in some
events, boats will have the chance to qualify for
the Olympics as early as the first round of racing,
while in some others, qualification will only be
assured when they have a result in the final.
will be due to LOCOG by 9 July 2012 and for
Paralympians in May 2012.
At the 2007 World Rowing Championships,
which served as the first qualification regatta
for the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic
Games, every race was at maximum intensity.
In Munich, Germany qualified the most boats for
the Olympics ( 12 boats, 42 athletes), while the
USA qualified the highest number of athletes
( 11 boats, 43 athletes). Which nation will be most
successful in Bled?
Athletes competing for qualification will also be
aware that qualifying their boat for the Olympics
or Paralympics is no guarantee they themselves
will row in London. The qualification process is
such that the athletes qualify the boat for their
country at qualification regattas. Once the boat
is qualified, rowers will have a big task cut out
for them: proving to their coaches and National
Federation selectors in the months leading up
to the Games that they deserve to be selected
to sit in an Olympic or Paralympic boat. The final
decisions for who will be London Olympians
The 2011 World Rowing Championships will see
the qualification of 64% of the boats that will race
at the 2012 Olympic regatta and 67% of the boats
for the Paralympic regatta. This will be followed by
three Olympic continental qualification regattas.
The first will be for Africa in Alexandria, Egypt this
November 2011 where nine additional boats will
qualify, the next for Latin America will take place
in Puerto Rico next March 2012 and then for Asia
in Chungju, Korea in April 2012 where 17 boats
each will qualify. The final Paralympic qualification
regatta will take place at the first World Rowing
Cup event in early May 2012 in Belgrade, Serbia.
The final Olympic qualification regatta will take
place in Lucerne, Switzerland in mid-May 2012
where 28 boats will be the last ones to qualify. By
the end of the qualification process, 550 athletes
(353 men, 197 women) will have qualified to race in
200 boats at rowing’s pinnacle quadrennial event.
Following the success of
the 2011 World Rowing
Junior Championships,
test event for the 2012
Olympic Rowing Regatta,
FISA President Denis
Oswald said: “LOCOG
has done an excellent
job, is well prepared,
and is well advanced.
LOCOG has stated
that they are on time or
even ahead of schedule
with all construction
projects and this gives
them the flexibility and
the time now to look at
adjustments that can still
be made following the
test events.”
We are now very much
looking forward to
exciting racing leading
up to the 2012 Olympic Games as athletes will
seek not only to qualify their boat but will enter
the selection phase for London.
A record 101 nations attempted to qualify for
the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and FISA’s
development programme has been working
diligently over the last Olympic cycle to help even
more nations reach the Olympic level.
May the racing begin!
● Matt Smith
FISA Executive Director
Issue 17 – August 2011
