One month to the World Cup: the forecasts for the reception

It is exactly two months until the stage of the World Cup Rowing Championships, which for the second consecutive year, is taking place in Schiranna. This is the end of a journey, which, over the last few seasons, has brought to Lake Varese the best in international rowing at all levels (youth, seniors and top athletes) and this year, there will be very important races, considering that they precede the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro by a few months.

The local organising committee, which also involves the local authorities, has already been working for some time, to respect the standards set by the international federation, and is about to welcome a delegation of FISA inspectors, who are expected to arrive on Thursday 17th March. What is particularly being examined are the facilities and coordination of the television broadcasts, because the World Cup will not only be broadcast by RAI, but also in other countries.

This is an important stage in organisational terms; meanwhile, the Committee is also busy with other aspects, the financial in particular, considering that the arrival of thousands of people in Varese also implies economic activity that is by no means negligible for the town and its inhabitants.

In 2015, in Schiranna there was the second phase of the World Cup in the middle of June, and the welcoming committee planned for 10,000 overnight stays (9,832 to be precise), which were distributed among 14 hotels. At the time, 51 national teams and 331 individual crews were involved, who required the use of 11 shuttles (between hotels and the competition site) and 8 buses for the service to and from the airports and stations. The were 4000 meals consumed in the Schiranna area.

Starting with these numbers, the organisers are trying to understand what the event in mid-April will look like, when a lot of nations will be present in Varese, taking part in an important trial for Olympic qualification, with the waters of Lucerne (the third and final stage of the Cup) acting as the final judge for the Rio Olympics.

A comparison may be made with the rowing championships of Belgrade 2012 or Bled 2015, which were equivalent to Varese, in the year of the London Olympics, and those that began the Cup, 12 months ago. There were 43 nations and 662 rowers in the Serbian capital, and 34 teams and 408 rowers in Bled. However, Belgrade was also where the Paralympic qualifications took place; these will take place in the area, but in Gavirate, from 21 to 24 April. So, in order to compare that number, we have to wait for this final event, too.

The estimate for Varese 2016, outlined after the meetings with the Chairman, Luigi Manzo, during the FISA meeting in London, is of about a thousand people coming, including athletes, managers, coaches and support staff. And each person is reckoned to stay up to days, also because the competition site opens on Wednesday 13, and the departures will be between Sunday evening and Monday during the day. There will be about 500 rowers competing, representing between 35 and 40 national teams. However, we will be able to be more precise on this matter in a couple of weeks, when the countdown for the World Cup will be pressing.