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What started as an idea for some of us who did not relish making a separate trip to Antwerp just to go through athlete checkin (also called 'accreditation') has turned into a tidal wave of relief by the rowers and the Outgames has happily signed off on the idea.

This is essential for all rowers. The Outgames cannot logistically handle two different athlete checkin areas, so it can only be in one location. Therefore, rowers MUST go through athlete accreditation on Friday at the rowing venue in Gent.

GLRF will be picking up all the badges for all the rowers on Thursday morning, 01 August, from the Outgames offices, and taking them to Gent. There will be no rowing badges at the Centraal Station.

We hope to open the checkin table around 09h00 on Friday, 02 August. We will update this news item with a map but for now, we advise all rowers to simply go to the finish tower of the rowing venue. For those approaching the rowing venue, you will see the course in front of you, and you need to turn left and walk past the Koninklijke Roeivereniging Club Gent (KRCG) towards the finish tower.

[edit 30 Jul 2013] It is confirmed that checkin will start around 09h00 (we have to return the rental car first but we hope to be there between 09h00 and 09h30), and you can also begin your boat rental and training. This is the email from the Regatta Secretary, effective today, 30 Jul 2013:

Yes, next to the Roeivereniging Club Gent - at the Finishtower.

They can pay their boats over there - once upon payment of the rental fees, they will get the tickets for the boats. They will get a plan where they can find their boat.

From 9h on Friday

We are seeking volunteers to help with the checkin table since all of us need to get some time on the water. If you can help, please reply to this topic.

You can now register for the recreational rowing event scheduled for Monday, 05 Aug 2013.

To sign up, you need to be a member of GLRF. Then go to the calendar event and click RSVP. Doing that will put your name down. As soon as we see your name on the list, we will send you a PayPal request for payment. You have 5 days to pay before we remove your name from the RSVP list.

We are doing this to be fair to everyone. What we wanted to avoid was teams putting a number of names on the list but then amending that list at the last minute, and possibly preventing someone from participating who was told the event was full.

The event can only accommodate 40 people so we encourage everyone to RSVP sooner rather than later.

You can read all the details of the event on the Ghent Recreational Row page.

The regatta secretary has agreed to extend the deadline for submitting entries from 14 July 2013 to 16 July 2013.

Hopefully this will give crews a little extra time to organize their boats or to find and fill composite boats.

The Outgames Sports department will email all participants the excel registration for the regatta on Tuesday, 02 Jul 2013. There are two forms, one for the Saturday Masters races and one for the Sunday Senior (Open) races.

Please note that both races are 1,000m but the Belgian Rowing Federation considers an open race to be a senior race.

As you will see in the Masters race form, there are no traditional Masters letters. Rather, just average age categories for the boat.

The only official mixed crew (men/women) races will be the 500m. 8+ dash. However, female rowers ARE permitted to race in a men's boat but the boat will still be considered a men's category.

Transgender participants should register for the gender to which they identify.

Please submit one excel form per boat per race. Every participant may enter up to 4 events.

No registration cutoff date has been established but the sooner you submit your entries, the better.

The Regatta Details page has been updated to provide the current race format. Additionally, there is now a Boat Rental Information page.

The World Outgames Sportmanager, after extensive negotiations with the Regatta Organizing Committee (ROC), has relayed that the price of the boat rental will be 30 Euro per seat per event per day. The negotiations did result in one benefit: the rental price is for an event and not a heat. So the rental price applies to both one or two races. The rental pricing also applies to the training day.

To minimize the cost of the boat rentals, GLRF has recommended that the Masters races be held on one day (Saturday), and the Open races be held on (Sunday). The ROC will be publishing the details for the boat rental programme soon and there will of course be questions such as the possibility of clubs with multiple entries being able to rent one boat for one day and use it in multiple events. Our feeling is that the ROC will insist that the rental price apply uniformly to an "event."

In view of the escalated boat rental costs, GLRF is encouraging as many clubs as possible to trailer extra boats for private rental. GLRF has created a special Outgames category for boat rentals in the new classifieds section of the All Oars Network. Both clubs and competitors can submit a classified listing (for rent or seeking). We encourage as many participants as possible to make use of the classifieds. Any GLRF member can submit a listing. The prices for private boat rental are up to the individual parties.

If you need any help with submitting a listing, feel free to send GLRF a PM: @glrfcentral, an email, and also look for us on Chat (see the chat symbol in the dashboard and updates sidebar). The listing format is very extensive and please look it over to avail yourself of all the fields.

A last minute deal for all those procrastinators! The World Outgames organizers just announced that the last minute registration price has been extended to 14 July 2013, when Outgames registration will totally and completely close.

The last minute registration marks down the late registration participant fee (also referred to as the World Outgames Experience package) from 129 Euros to 79 Euros!! The sports fee for rowing remains unchanged and is an additional 55 Euros. But hey, you can bring your new bf or gf for next to nothing, and they can cheer you on at the regatta while letting everyone know nearby that's your man or your woman!

To take advantage of the special promotion, you need to use the promotion code "LASTCALL" when you register/pay. Note that some of the rowers who have registered but not paid (there are maybe 5 - 6 of you), can also take advantage of your straggler status and get this special reduced price offer.

For rowers who are on the fence about the competition and/or the extra 55 Euro rowing sports fee, keep in mind that you can also attend the World Outgames as a participant AND just pay separately for the recreational rowing event on Monday, and avoid the 55 Euro fee.

So this special 79 Euro participant fee is really a bargain because it gets you all kinds of discounts on events surrounding the World Outgames, and of course, admission to the opening and closing ceremonies. The list of discounts also includes a discount on the recreational rowing event!!!

GLRF met with the World Outgames Sports Coordinator at the Outgames offices in Antwerp on 05 March. The Regatta Organizing Committee chair joined the meeting by telephone.

Details for the student fee eligibility, of 79 Euros participant fee + 55 Euros rowing sports fee, are now outlined in the rowing details page.

Details for the 500m. dash were confirmed and are now detailed in the rowing details page.

The question of adding a 2- event was discussed. The Regatta Committee said a 2- event could certainly be accommodated but it was felt to be prudent to first measure the level of interest for such an event before adding the event to the electronic regatta registration. Regatta participants are encouraged to vote on their interest in a 2- event. The poll will stay open until late April 2013.

Rowers had asked if the race schedule would be structured with all age categories in a single boat type racing together. In other words, would rowers have enough time between races to be able to race in a B and C category for a given boat type. The regatta committee said every effort would be made to accommodate such entries and that would come when the final lineups are decided, after registration closes.

Several rowers have asked if the race format could be modified since they are not overly enthusiastic at the prospect of rowing a second, consolation race and losing some of their winning mojo that could be otherwise directed towards another entry. Three alternatives were discussed. The regatta committee said they would be willing to support any of the three options. It was felt that all participants should have the opportunity to discuss their preferences and also vote for the options. The poll will stay open until late April 2013.

Details of the transport pass and options for the train and bus were clarified. You can read the options in the rowing details page.

It's official - the Antwerp World Outgames regular registration fee deadline has been extended from 28 Feb 2013 to 01 Apr 2013. [the Antwerp World Outgames organizing officials are sitting right next to me]

No, this isn't an April Fool's gag. You got the date right, and that means the 99 Euro participant fee is available for one more month!

The sports fee for rowing remains fixed at 55 Euros, and you don't have to pay for both fees when you register. You can simply pay the participant fee to lock in your registration and then pay for the sports fee later, in April or May.

Ready to register? Click on the 'Register for the Regatta' link in the navigation block to the right!!! --->

The 2013 World Outgames has announced a special "loving" registration discount for friends of athletes or teammates.

If you register and pay for the participant fee package (Euro 99) between 09 Feb and 24 Feb 2013, you will receive a personalized Valentine's code that will allow you to share the love with one other person.

What does share the love mean? How about 50% discount on the other person's participant fee package (so your partner, fbuddy, Mom, twin brother, ex-boyfriend, can join you and they only pay Euro 50.

Now that is a deal! And, even better, if you have previously registered, you can still share the love. Just login in with your personal registration code you got way back when, go to your registration page, and the love discount code awaits your retrieval to share with whomever.

Mind the deadline: make sure to share your discount code and that it is used by that special someone before 25 Feb 2013.

Want to register right now? Look in the navigation block to the right. See where it says 'Register for the Regatta?' :)

Great news! The registration promotion that offered a 36% or Euro 36 discount for the 2013 World Outgames has been extended until Sunday, 16 December 2012 at midnight, in Antwerp, or GMT +1.

As we mentioned before, the discount code to take advantage of the 36% savings is 'WOGA121212.'

Already, quite a few rowers have taken advantage of the savings as the rowing registration numbers jumped from 9 to 30!

The 2013 World Outgames has just announced a limited-time registration discount.

The participant fee, normally set at Euro 99, has been discounted to Euro 63, a savings of 36% or ... Euro 36!!! The promotion is available until 12 December 2012 so you need to move quick to take advantage of the offer. In fact, if you wanted to argue semantics, the announcement says to register before 12 Dec so technically that would mean the promotion runs until midnight on 11 Dec.

To take advantage of the offer, use the WOGA121212 discount code when you register.

Oh, and we should mention the fine print for rowers: the discount only applies to the participant fee and not to the sports fee. So the Euro 55 fee remains unchanged for registering for rowing. For those who are doing a huh?, registration at the Outgames consists of a participant fee + a sports fee.

For those of you who have been looking at the regatta dates on the Regatta Details page of this group, and then comparing or looking at the dates on the World Outgames Rowing page, there was a mismatch.

As we noted in the Regatta Details page, the dates are correct here and just needed to be fixed on the World Outgames Rowing page.

After two website updates, the dates are now identical so hopefully there won't be any confusion.

Also, we have not mentioned much about the recreational rowing event planned for Monday, 05 August 2012. That will be a rowing tour of Ghent, along the canals and outside of the main rowing sports stadium. We just created a separate page, Ghent Recreational Row, so you can read the details separately.

It is now official. Rowers can register for the rowing event at the 2013 Outgames. The sports fee has been established at Euro 55. Therefore, the total price would be Euro 154: Participant fee of Euro 99 + Sports fee of Euro 55.

The total registration pricing remains in effect through 28 Feb 2013. After that, late registration begins on 01 Mar and the participant fee jumps to Euro 129. The sports fee would remain the same at Euro 55.

See the Regatta Details page for more updates and information.

Rowing registration is close to going live at the worldOutgames 2013 Antwerp. As of today, we can confirm the dates which may be different than those you see on the World Outgames site (they just haven't been updated). See the Regatta Details page in the nav bar ---->

The All Oars Groups features include the ability to add separate pages. So now you can see the Regatta Details page inside this group instead of on the Regattas + page, and the latest posts for the General Discussion forum on that page. If you have questions, it probably will mean others have too. Add your discussion and comments to General Discussion forum so we can all share and learn.

We have also uploaded images and provided a narrated, round the course description for each of the images. Just click on the link for the images in the navigation bar.

Planning for the rowing regatta at the worldOutgames 2013 Antwerp is ongoing. GLRF team members have met with the organizers of the Antwerp World Outgames in June 2011 and March 2012. Currently a format is being developed that will offer an inclusive and competitive event.

The initial site selected for the regatta has shifted twice, from the Albert Kanaal just outside the city of Antwerp to the Hazewinkel FISA Class A facility 22 kilometers south of the city to now the Waterspsortbaan facility in Gent.

There are several reasons for the shift in locations. The Albert Kanaal is a commercial shipping lane that is only open to rowing on Sunday and rowers would have had to compete with pleasure and motor craft on the course.

Although the Hazewinkel facility hosts a modern, championship facility, the amount of support by local clubs is lacking. There is one on site club and of course the staff that runs the facility. Beyond that, there were conflicts with scheduled elite crews and summer time water sports programmes that use the facility every day.

The current location in Gent is a bit further away, now 60 km southwest of Antwerp, but there are a number of clubs who use the venue and can provide boats for out of town competitors (that’s huge). Also, there are no real conflicting water sports programmes that might interfere with the regatta. Finally, three clubs have signed on to organize and host the regatta so the event will be well supported.

The facility itself was built in 1954 and has played host to the European Rowing Championships. The course offers 5 lanes on a 2k course. Of course, the regatta will be shorter than 2k but some planned events will ensure the most hardened competitors will feel their mettle tested.

We encourage everyone in the GLRF community to either follow this news forum or join the group to get regular updates on the format, dates, and information for the event.