Awarding Medals At The Regatta

[glrfcentral]

One of the latest discussions among the Outgames sports department, the Regatta Organizing Committee, and GLRF is how and when medals will be awarded.

 

From the perspective of the Outgames, they see the medals awarding ceremony as something that should be published to both rowers and non-rowers, so people can supposedly "watch."

 

The truth, for most rowers and the rowing community, is that the only audience present when medals are awarded are those at the finish line when a final has ended and the results verified, or friends and supporters who have stuck around at the end of the day if medals are awarded long after the race is over.

 

The ongoing discussion amongst this 3-way group of stakeholders is a window into how the regatta is organized.

 

For the part of the Outgames, they see the medals ceremony as full of pomp and ceremony and they want the awards to be published to the attention of all Outgames participants, and probably, helps to put the icing on the cake of each of the grand sports events they have organized.

 

For the part of the Regatta Organizing Committee, they see a compressed time schedule and simply a task that needs to be scheduled along with the races and launching and recovering boats.

 

GLRF has jumped into the discussion to advocate for the rowers. Our input has been that medals should be awarded on the same day as the completion of the individual rowing event. In the case of this regatta, that means all medals for the Masters races should be awarded on Saturday, and all medals for the Open races should be awarded on Sunday.

 

GLRF has made the case that some rowers are not competing on Sunday and therefore would feel annoyed at having to return to the course just to receive their medals. The same could be said for delaying the award of the medals until the end of the day.

 

Our recommendation has been to keep the medal award procedure fluid, and leave it to the Regatta Committee and not try to involve the Outgames and publishing a specific time. It would seem that what would serve the rowers the best is if medals are awarded as soon as possible after each race event has completed so rowers can leave the course or focus on the next event.

 

We have offered the following observations on regatta medal practices at various other regattas:

• The British brought the boats alongside and the officials draped the medals over the necks of the crews while they sat in their boats and then they cast off.
  
• At the Commonwealth Games, the crews came alongside the dock at the finish line and stood on the 1/2/3 platform and received their medals and then cast off.
  
• At the Royal Canadian Henley, they stopped at the finish line. They only receive gold so it is only one boat.
  
• At the Head of the Charles, the minor awards medals are provided to the team captain who then awards the crews. The major award medals are presented twice in one evening, both days.
  
• At the USRowing Northwest Masters Regional Championships, the crews stop by the officiating tent and the medals are presented to the captain of the team.
  
• At the San Diego Crew Classic, the crews recover their boats, place them on their regular slings and then head to the awards area next to the finish line.
  
• At the 2009 World Outgames, the awards were provided at the end of the day.
  

We started this discussion to give all the rowers a window into some of the many issues that GLRF faces and tries to represent on behalf of the rowers.