Rowing stars launch £13m boating centre

by icberkshire.icnetwork.co.uk on 15 May 2006 Olympic knights Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent have been in Caversham to open a state-of-the-art rowing centre to train the stars of the future.

The Redgrave-Pinsent Lake off Henley Road, is the first new world-class training venue to open since London was chosen to host the 2012 Olympics.

And the £13 million centre, paid for by Sport England and Lottery money,provides the south east with a training power base for future British Olympic rowers.

It is hoped around 50 top rowers will use the 2,000-metre lake on a daily basis between October and July.

But the lake is not just for Olympic-standard rowers.New club houses have been built for Reading Sailing Club and Isis Water Ski Club.

Schools and clubs can also use the rowing facilities when the national squads are not training.

Sir Steve, who won five Olympic gold medals to write himself into the history books,said: 'This facility provides the perfect training base for our future champions.

'We are delighted that the Amateur Rowing Association will be using the site to nurture new talent for Beijing 2008, London 2012 and beyond.'

And four-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Matthew said: 'It's a great achievement to have created such a world-class environment for rowers.

'We are incredibly grateful to everybody involved, in particular David Sherriff whose commitment ensured the project became a reality.'

Mr Sherriff started planning the project 25 years ago,when he began buying up small parcels of land and moving his 300-berth marina to make way for the rowing centre.

He has also spent £2 million on setting aside a section of the lake to create a nature reserve.