Gold Coast Mayor’s push to take Olympic rowing from croc-infested Fitzroy

Mayor Tom Tate has met with authorities to rubber stamp the Gold Coast’s Hinze Dam as an Olympic rowing venue – instead of a controversial Rockhampton river.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate continues to push for Hinze Dam to be the venue for rowing at the 2032 Olympics.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has met with Seqwater in a bid to rubber stamp the city’s Hinze Dam as an elite rowing venue as speculation continues over the controversial Rockhampton river chosen for the 2032 Olympics.

Rockhampton’s crocodile-infested Fitzroy River is slated to host rowing events at the Brisbane Games, but it faces rigorous screening processes, both from Games organisers and World Rowing, which is set to make a call on the venue by September.

If officials from World Rowing are not satisfied the Fitzroy is suitable, the state government will be forced to scramble to find a replacement venue or risk having rowing and paddle events moved interstate to a facility such as the one in Penrith which hosted the sports during the Sydney 2000 Games.

The Gold Coast’s Hinze Dam was once a regular host for elite rowing and was a training venue for both the Australian and Great Britain teams in the lead-up to the 2000 Olympics.

It also hosted prestigious Brisbane private school regattas up until about 15 years ago when the dam wall was raised.

Mayor Tom Tate is actively pushing for the Gold Coast to be a “plan B” for more than one sport.

Mr Tate, as well as delegations from Paddle Australia and Rowing Australia, met with Seqwater on Friday outlining their case to resume rowing regattas on Hinze Dam and the Gold Coast Mayor will also push to host a national championship meet in the countdown to 2032.

As the dam is a drinking supply it falls under the jurisdiction of Seqwater.

Mr Tate, who sits on the Brisbane Games board, said he supported the decision to host rowing at Rockhampton, but wanted the chance to show the Gold Coast could step up to the plate if required.

“The meeting was about re-establishing Hinze Dam as a rowing venue for community and major events up to the level of national titles,” he said.

“It was a constructive discussion, and as always, we are here to help.”

AI image of 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games venues: Rowing at the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton.

In a statement, a spokesman for Seqwater said they “welcomed the opportunity” to engage with Mr Tate and other key stakeholders and looked forward to providing technical and logistical data which could properly inform the viability of Hinze Dam returning as an elite rowing venue.

“Sites around the dam that were formerly used for rowing earlier this century are now under water following the dam raising completed in 2011, so the discussion allowed Seqwater to highlight some of the constraints that we’ve identified with hosting new infrastructure at the dam in its current form,” the statement said.

“Seqwater will provide a range of technical data and supporting information about the dam to help Council and rowing and paddle representative bodies determine its viability to host national or international standard events.”

The Fitzroy River in Rockhampton. Picture: Aden Stokes

Speaking in Rockhampton this week, Premier David Crisafulli maintained the city’s Fitzroy River would be “good enough for international athletes”, with the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority conducting its own review ahead of expected tests by the sport’s governing body in the coming weeks.

“(It’s) a beautiful venue, (a) safe venue, good enough for our kids, (and) good enough for international athletes,” said Mr Crisafulli.

Originally published as Gold Coast Mayor’s push to take Olympic rowing from croc-infested Fitzroy