A week to remember: World Rowing Championships make a splash

Another World Rowing Championships at Nathan Benderson Park?

It's possible, thanks to the way the 2017 championships went. For the first U.S.-hosted championships in 23 years, everyone seemed impressed by the way the week unfolded. 

It's all over for now. The grandstands at Benderson Park will have to be dismantled. The large television screens flanking the stands will be taken down as well. The more than 100 vendor tents, providing the fans with food, drinks, merchandise and opportunities, will disappear. Soon, the world won’t be able to tell that the park held the biggest rowing event in the world this year, but those who brought the event to the area, and those in attendance, will not soon forget.

“I’m kind of beside myself,” Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associations, Inc. (SANCA) President Stephen Rodriguez said. SANCA is a not-for-profit that manages Nathan Benderson Park. “It’s been such a great experience. To see the amount of community support there is, not only from Sarasota and Manatee counties helping us put on this event, but having volunteers come in from Indiana who are rowers and wanted to work the event, it’s humbling to see how many people are involved and helping to put on an outstanding, world-class rowing regatta.

“I’ve heard nothing but compliments from officials and athletes, many of whom, when they first appeared, commented that this is better than (2016 Olympic host) Rio de Janeiro. It’s not just the course, but the atmosphere of the event as well.”

Rodriguez said the event was run exactly as he envisioned it, and World Rowing Championships volunteer coordinator Morgan Skillman said her volunteers were awesome, never complaining if they need to be moved to a different position and even offering to stay extra hours or days just because they were having so much fun.

“The first few days were a little difficult because everyone is getting used to their jobs and learning, but after that, everyone got in the groove,” Skillman said. “It’s been pretty smooth ever since. I’m very happy with this week.”

Rodriguez and Skillman are not the only one excited about how things went. Jean-Christophe Rolland, the president of FISA, or World Rowing, said during a Sept. 27 press conference that Benderson was an “amazing” environment for rowing.

“We’re very satisfied on how the rowing championships have been going,” Rolland said. ““The teams seem very happy with it.”

He added that FISA strives to vary its World Rowing Championship venues in the name of fairness, but would love to return to Benderson Park in the future. Rodriguez, too, said SANCA is interested in hosting again, and with the impact it has had, there’s is no reason not to be. Visit Sarasota County President Virginia Haley said the final economic impact numbers will not be available until late November, but Walter Klages of Research Data Services estimated that the event would generate $12 million in direct spending and have a total economic impact of $24 million.

It may not happen for a few years, but Rodriguez is staying prepared for the events by hosting other events involving more participants, like September 2018’s FISA World Rowing Masters Regatta. The 2017 version, held in Bled, Slovenia, had 6,000 boat entries.

“There’s a bid process (to host the World Rowing Championships), and there has certainly been talk about wanting to host it again,” Rodriguez said. “I think we need to get together with all our partners here in the community and determine the best time to submit a bid and see if we can bring it back. I think everybody involved that I have talked to has expressed interest in that.”

The sellout crowds on the event's final two days would seem to agree.