Putting nationalistic politics aside, we have to cheer for the selection of Rio de Janeiro as the host of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Our GLRF Brasil members will be whooping and hollering since their rowing venue, Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, will be host to the rowing competition.

Talk about picturesque! The venue is located right in the heart of the city and visitors will be able to watch the rowing races from a number of vantage points.

The other cities bidding for the Olympics were Tokyo, Madrid, and Chicago. No doubt our GLRF United States members in Chicago will be forlorn at their city’s site selection loss but we have to wonder about the proposed rowing venue on Lake Michigan. Critics had assailed the plan as windy and exposed. To cap it off, the venue was to be temporary. The entire breakwater placement was scheduled for removal after the Olympics. How does that benefit the local rowing community? Whatever happened to using Crystal Lake as the rowing venue? Sure it would have needed some major excavation but after the Olympics, the Chicago rowing community would have had a world class rowing facility. All of us in the gay and lesbian rowing community could have taken smug satisfaction that we led the groundbreaking path for an Olympic rowing venue when the 2006 Gay Games featured rowing at Crystal Lake.

Parabéns Brasil!