World Rowing Championships help cut cultural divides

After a year of build-up, the World Rowing Championships have arrived.

They’ll still be happening as you read this, and that means you should go watch them. No joke, finish reading this and then go, like, immediately. The Observer has written so much about it, any questions you have will be covered, and if you’re still on the fence, know that Saturday and Sunday feature a slew of A finals (the ones that count for medals). It’s truly a can’t-miss event if you live in this area.

I was at the Championships myself this week when I ran into Jaylah Wilson of Booker Middle School. She was there with a bunch of her classmates through the Adopt a Team program the Championships are running. Each Sarasota (and Manatee) County school was tasked with painting a picture to represent each country at the Championships, in the process learning about what makes each country unique. The WRC then took each picture and put it on a gigantic canvas. The final results stand in the event’s spectator parking lot for the world to see.

Booker Middle was assigned Lithuania, and wouldn’t you know it, Wilson’s picture was selected to become the final product.

“When she (art teacher Theresa Burbridge) first gave me the project, I didn’t know anything about Lithuania,” Wilson said. “I looked up special and historical things (about it), and then added rowing at the bottom.

“The hot air balloons, they love those. The Hill of Crosses (a place of pilgrimage), they are very Catholic. The building (Vilnius Cathedral), it’s an important gathering place, and the birds (white storks) are very common there, they love them.”

Wilson said the project took about two weeks to complete. This week, she got to see her work displayed in the parking lot. The WRC invited groups of kids from each participating school to attend the event for a day. They expect to bring in 6,000 kids by the end of the week. A smile stretched over her face as she looked at her art. She’s not a huge rowing fan, she said, and up to that point had yet to see any of the racing this week (she had just arrived), but was excited to be at the event.

Listen, I don’t think it’s controversial to say the world is in a bad place right now. We’ve done better as human beings, and Mother Nature has been kinder. It’s not going to be an easy fix, but I genuinely believe international events like this help things heal. You cheer for your country, you mingle with people from different lands, you culture up and put any preconceived notions you may have had about a place aside. The same thing happens with rowers chilling in the athlete zone.

For kids such as Wilson, it’s a chance to begin the learning process early. Sure, some of the art is a bit stereotypical (featuring mummies and sphinxes on the Egypt painting is, well, not exactly outside of the box). But it’s an attempt at building bridges, and that’s a start. Wilson knows more about Lithuania’s culture than me now, and that’s excellent.

I’m not saying the World Rowing Championships are going to solve the world's problems. I am saying that maybe, maybe, it will lead to people being a little more kind and understanding of others who are just trying to survive this crazy life like you and I.