Bitter sports rivals University of Florida, Florida State University, and Georgia Tech are among 12 rowing teams converging on a 400-acre lake near the Manatee-Sarasota county line.
The 2010 Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship begins at 3 p.m. today and continues through Saturday.
It’s the kind of event that can help make Nathan Benderson Park the future home of world-class rowing, organizers say.
At one-mile long, the man-made lake, excavated years ago as construction material for Interstate 75, and fed by Cooper Creek, can be that rare thing in the rowing world: a year-round venue for the sport.
Thursday, crews were at the park, located near the southwest corner of I-75 and University Parkway, putting the finishing touches on dock installation, course markings, grandstands, comfort tents and air-conditioned portable toilets.
Over the course of the men’s and women’s championship competition, organizers believe as many as 5,000 spectators and athletes will take part. Admission is free and spectators will be shuttled from University Town Center, home of SuperTarget and BestBuy, to the park.
Jason Puckett, of the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Center, said the championship has a significant economic impact on the Manatee-Sarasota area with restaurants, hotels, stores and more benefiting.
Rowing brings an affluent community with extra dollars to spend, Puckett said.
John Krotec, a volunteer regatta organizer, called the advent of rowing competition locally “a rare opportunity afforded to any community on the planet.”
The park is named after Nathan Benderson, the 92-year-old patriarch of the development company that has already built 1.5 million square feet of commercial space in the area, and has plans to build a mega-mall nearby.
Mark Chait, director of Florida leasing for Benderson, said Joe Dobson, a local sculling coach, will be the announcer for the event, and spectators will be able to watch the event on the water and on a large-screen TV to be able to keep up with the mile-long competition.
“Everyone will know what’s going on,” Chait said.
Organizers talk about the energy and adrenalin that surround the sport.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to share our love of the sport,” Dobson said.
Joining Dobson for at least a portion of the championship will be Jason Reed, who won a gold medal in the sport at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Competition is set for 3-6 p.m. today and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
