Crocodiles not the only concern for rowers at Brisbane Olympics

Rowing New Zealand says it is apprehensive about racing on croc-inhabited waters at Brisbane’s 2032 Olympics, but says it has even bigger concerns.

Among those is that it is not yet known if the course at Rockhampton’s Fitzroy River, announced for Olympic rowing events in 2032, meets international standards.

Rowing NZ chief executive Simon Wickham says the organisation wasn’t expecting races to take place on a river.

“A lake or a standing body of water is more typical of what you see at international events," he told Te Waha Nui.

A key criteria of standard international courses is that there should be no flow of water.

World Rowing and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have not yet been consulted about the Brisbane venue, and the plans have left rowing organisations waiting to learn if the river is a viable option.

“We keep a pretty close eye on where and what’s being proposed for any Olympics that we know of, with a mind to securing training venues and gathering knowledge,” Wickham says.

He says he can’t think of another time athletes have been asked to compete in a natural reptile habitat.

“I think the average person would find it hard to put out of their mind.”

At the announcement of the Olympic infrastructure blueprint, chairman of the 2032 Brisbane organising committee Andrew Liveris said he wasn’t worried about crocodiles at the venue and called concerns “a bit Hollywood-ish”.

But crocodile expert and owner at Koorana Crocodile Farm John Lever says there’s no alternative but to remove the reptiles that inhabit that section of the river.

“There’s no doubt that they’re there and there’s no doubt that there has to be a removal programme.

“We can’t have major international events taking place, knowing there are still crocodiles in that area.”

Rowing NZ expects the IOC to treat athletes' safety as its first priority and Wickham wants to see “fairly significant safety provisions in place” should athletes compete in the crocodile habitat.

Calls to remove crocodiles in Rockhampton have been made by locals for decades.

Lever says using the river would do the community a favour by forcing the Government’s hand over the reptiles.

Beyond the Olympics, he thinks removing crocodiles from the stretch will “get more people using the river as a recreational area”.

The next Olympics in 2028 will be in Los Angeles.