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By Melissa Bray
 At this time, two years from now, the Beijing Olympics will be a close memory. New Olympic Champions will have risen and athletes will reflect on their four years of work. Organisers, meanwhile, will reflect on success of the venues.
For the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, the officials will look back to November 2006 when 1.7 million cubic metres of water had to be piped in from nearby reservoirs and ground water sources. The organisers will be musing on the success of the plastic membrane lining the entire 2 272 metre course plus warm-up area preventing water seepage into the sandy ground.
The officials may be reflecting on the uniquely Chinese feature of a dragon-shaped island and ponder the speed with which it all came together.
Already the park has had visitors from team managers from New Zealand and the United States as well as recent trips by France, Great Britain’s elite athletes and Italy’s new head coach Andrea Coppola to name a few.
Coppola shared his thoughts on Beijing after his visit, “There are building-sites everywhere, with thousands of people working non-stop, 24 hours a day. But what is all the more surprising is that alongside this, despite the difficulties caused by the excavations and the digging machines, sports life continues frenetically, as if nothing had happened: I saw schools with as many as 30-40 basketball courts, almost as many again for volleyball.”
 FISA’s Events Director Svetla Otzetova and Executive Director Matt Smith recently visited the course and were able to witness the water-filling process which will take 40 to 50 days.
“They can pump 50 000 cubic meters of water per day which is only a few centimetres of water for the whole venue,” said Smith. “At present they are testing for leaks and only one millimetre of water disappears per day.”
Smith noted that the roads inside the venue were all complete with the roads to the venue targeted for completion by 31 December 2006. The bridges are complete and landscaping has started.
“The venue is on schedule and will be ready,” said Smith.
Meanwhile rowing in China is the buzz, taking on a whole new status with the first round of the Olympic coxswain reality show competition completed. The initial participants have been narrowed down to 80 national finalists who will compete on national television, CCTV1. Finalists include a high school student, an architect, dancers, a collegiate coxswain, Olympic diving champion, singer, university professor, and many more.
The Olympic Coxswain Competition TV programme will launch live on 12 December. Representatives from the Chinese Olympic Committee, the Beijing Organising Committee, the Chinese Water Sports Administration and CCTV will be attending.
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