Tokyo 2020 Rowing Venue Opens

(ATR) The rowing venue for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is open for business more than 13 months ahead of the Games.

The Sea Forest Waterway is located in Tokyo Bay but was built behind dams and water gates to protect it from waves and tides.

A race between alumni crews from Oxford and Cambridge initiated the course on Sunday with Oxford winning, AP reported. This was a bonus race between the two universities that hold their annual battle on the River Thames in London.

The venue will also play host to sprint canoeing during the Olympics and para-rowing and para-canoeing for the Paralympics.

"Everything has been on track, on time and I am very pleased more than one year before the Olympic Games to be in such a position without any major issues," International Rowing Federation president Jean-Christophe Rolland told reporters, according to Reuters.

"There are still some little things to improve but I can say we can be relieved we will have a good course for the Olympic Games."

One issue was evident with the windy conditions on Sunday. With little in the way of protection from the elements, the competition schedule could be affected by blustery conditions at the venue.

Rolland, who won rowing gold at Sydney 2000, downplayed any concerns saying "On an eight day program I hope we will find time easily where the wind is not too strong and that we can have a good competition."

The Sea Forest Waterway has not had any problems with water-quality issues, a major problem for rowing and sailing at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

New Sustainability Initiative Launched

Tokyo 2020 unveiled details on Monday of the Flower Lane project, designed to engage schoolchildren while making the wait in security lines during the Games a little more enjoyable.

Schoolchildren in prefectures hosting Olympic and Paralympic events will plant seeds to grow flowers that will be used in place of traditional partitions to create attractive natural barriers at pedestrian screening areas in front of venues.

Students will attach personal messages to the flowers, which spectators will be able to read while waiting to enter venues. Volunteers will take care of the flowers during the Games. The current plan calls for the flowers to be returned to the schools that grew them and/or to donate them to the volunteers and Games officials as a memento of their participation in the Games.

Tokyo 2020 organizers say a total of around 40,000 flowers grown by the children will be used at venues during the Olympics and Paralympics.

"When we talk about ‘security’ it tends to invoke rather a strict image, quite the opposite of ‘hospitality’, and so with this initiative we intend to project the hospitality that emanates from the hearts of children, " said Tsuyoshi Iwashita, executive director of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee's Security Bureau, in a statement.

The project will receive a trial run at two test events this summer -- beach volleyball at Shiokaze Park in July and sailing at Enoshima Yacht Harbour in August.

Written by Gerard Farek

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