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First, it was a GLRF social at London’s oldest and most prestigious club, the London Rowing Club. With perfect sunny weather, and crews from the nearby rowing clubs coming and going on the riverbank, it was a perfect setting for some beer and chat.
See the GLRF Media page: GLRF_UKCityLaunch2004.pdf
In Nottingham, the staff of the National Champs had all of the GLRF materials prepared and in order. A late night run to the English version of Walmart, known as ASDA, as well as Staples, helped enhance the booth’s look. Rowers from Spain, US, UK, and France stopped by to check out the compelling picture of a rowing course – Montreal’s Olympic Basin. The weather was sunny, windy, rainy, warm, and cool.
Saturday evening brought the GLRF social to Nottingham with a reception at the @D2 pub.
Orion Rowing Club is profiled by QX Magazine as the crew trains for EuroGames 2004:
As part of the ReadyAllBoats! Awareness Campaign, GLRF will host a social for rowers at the London Rowing Club.
The intention of this global initiative is to increase the awareness of GLRF among gay and lesbian rowers, and to energize them to organize boats for the 2006 Montreal World Outgames Regatta, which is sanctioned and calendared by the Federation International des Societes d’Aviron (FISA), and for the 2006 Chicago Gay Games Regatta.
Read the full press release:
GLRFReadyAllBoatsUKv2.pdf
It’s the annual celebration of the Stonewall Riots of 1969, and New Yorkers love it. Everyone got into the act as straight and gay couples of every color, size, and combination strolled the length of Washington Street and checked out the booths.
Then suddenly the spectators came upon 5 sweep oars stretching to the sky. The winds got the best of the booth but the oars held firm as the Gay and Lesbian Rowing Federation promoted rowing in New York City with the launch of a brand new gay and lesbian rowing club, the New York Pride Rowing Association.
The booth featured displays from the Montreal World Outgames, the Chicago Gay Games, and the new gay and lesbian rowing club. To entice the visitors, GLRF featured an erg, and one that is not well known in rowing circles, a WaterRower, so the stares were all the more intense. Many people eyed the GLRF Summer50 Henley shirts and asked how they could get one. That’s easy. Become a supporting member!
Sandwiched between the KY Ultra Lube display and the Men2Men booths, the Gay and Lesbian Rowing Federation stood its ground with two sweep oars guarding the entrance an erg splayed in the entrance for all to try and test. Former rowers like Kevin were quickly doing 1:41 splits and hottie Jason, the tall blond surfer dude seemed to a natural even though he kept saying “Really Rose” as yours truly encouraged him to use more of his legs.
Some visitors came to reminisce about rowing in previous lives, and many came to ask how they could row. As usual, some said, “WOW! I didn’t know this organization existed.” Over 160 flyers were handed out for the Los Angeles Rowing Club, the UCLA Aquatic Center, and the Long Beach Rowing Association.
To Jim, the gay blind rower wanna be, we hope you will pursue the program! There are active adaptive rowing programs worldwide for those with all levels of disabilities. Wanna row?
GLRF hosted a booth at the Anacostia Community Boathouse, the new home for the Stonewall Regatta. Rowers didn’t seem to miss a beat as the regatta location had changed from Thompson’s to Anacostia in the past year. Over 300 participants flocked to the Anacostia River. The morning events had to be canceled due to small craft advisories but the afternoon events, including the fours and eights went off without any problems. The GLRF booth attracted rowers from Lake Carnegie Rowing Association, Potomac Boat Club, Alexandria Community Rowing, the Capital Rowing Club, and multiple Boston rowing organizations. Go Boston Bay Blades!
See the GLRF Media page: GLRF_US_DCLaunch2004.pdf
That evening, rowers headed to the trendy South of Dupont area of DC to sip a cocktail or two at the Iron Gate Inn. Then it was off to dinner and even more drinks
The Comite Organisateur of the 1st World Outgames, Rendezvous Montreal 2006, announced that for the first time in the history of gay and lesbian sport, the Montreal 2006 rowing regatta will be sanctioned and officially listed in the international rowing organization’s (FISA) official calendar.
In addition, the national governing body for rowing in Canada, Rowing Canada, pledged their support for the 2006 event.
The Gay and Lesbian Rowing Federation application for a booth at the UK National Rowing Championship RowShow was accepted today. Officials welcomed the application and only asked if a space was preferred inside the big marquee or out. The decision was made to apply for space to raise the visibility of GLRF within the United Kingdom. British rowers in the know suggested the Nottingham venue as one of the best for exposure and foot traffic. The championships are scheduled for 17 and 18 July.
As a result of the booth, GLRF will host an informal social in London the Thursday prior to the event, to help publicize GLRF, increase awareness of gay and lesbian rowers, and develop interest in forming boats for the 2006 Regattas. No location has been secured but any rowers with ideas are encouraged to send their suggestions to p2dir(a)glrf.info .
In what some would call excellent timing, GLRF recorded its 150th registered member from Athens, Greece. The registration makes Greece the ninth country in the global gay and lesbian rowing community. With the Olympics less than three months away, it is fitting that this first Greek profile is of an elite rower. He is 23 years old and rows both sweep and scull.
There is no word yet if he can host other rowers for the Olympics and whether he can get tickets to the week-long rowing competition scheduled for 14 - 22 August 2004. Just kidding there mate.
For many, it was a surprise. There were some giggles and a few whispers but most just wanted to know how long GLRF had been around and what we did. Joline of JL Clothing stopped by to say hi and find out about us. No wonder she’s a legend in rowing. What a nice lady. We ran out of GLRF brochures, had 20 people register, and watched some great races. Several of the Board members of the San Diego Crew Classic stopped by to give the booth a once over. The best part of the weekend was every time a rower stopped in and said “…wow, this is fantastic. This is so great.” It is, isn’t it?
On Saturday, GLRF hosted a social at the Bourbon Street bar as part of the 2004 ReadyAllBoats!2004 awareness campaign. See the ad from the Gay and Lesbian Times here:
See local media article about GLRF booth: GLRF_SanDiegoLaunch2004.pdf
