Tropical Storm Fay may have postponed Orlando Rowing Club’s plans to host the first annual Row for the Cure® Orlando, but the rescheduled regatta and fund-raiser this Sunday is expected to be bigger and better than before.
The tropical storm dumped record rainfall on Central Florida in August, imperiling registered competitors who were driving and trailering boats from Tallahassee, the Tampa Bay area and the Space Coast.
But with an extra two months to plan, and registration extended to colleges and high schools, ORC is guaranteed a bigger turnout — and more funds raised — than originally expected this Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008, when hundreds of athletes, families and supporters will descend upon Lake Fairview Park in Orlando for Row for the Cure® Orlando, a rowing/canoe/kayak/dragon boat event to support the Central Florida affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer foundation.
With one in eight women being diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime, according to the Komen foundation, Orlando Rowing Club is very proud to help in the battle against this disease by hosting Row for the Cure® Orlando.
Boat clubs and rowing teams from across the state are registered for the regatta, from nearby Boone High School to Tallahassee, Daytona Beach and Sarasota.
“This event will mean a great deal to many rowers in our club and across the state who credit their survival to breast cancer research, as well as the support of friends, family and rowing families,” said Head Coach Laura Riekki of Orlando Rowing Club. “We’re very excited to be able to honor these women and others like them in our first Row for the Cure®.”
Rowing events, scheduled to start at 8 a.m., will consist of single and double sculls (two oars per rower) as well as pairs, fours and eights (one oar per rower, alternating port and starboard sides) over the buoyed, 1000-meter course on Lake Fairview.
All proceeds from the event, including registration costs and donations, will go to the Central Florida affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. Donations are tax-deductible. In addition, ORC invites businesses and organizations to donate or sponsor a boat in the name of their company or a loved one affected by this disease.
For those new to regattas or the sport or rowing, ORC hosts will circulate throughout the venue to answer questions, explain rowing terminology and help spectators understand the event.
Competitors will receive a swag bag from our sponsors. The grand prize for funds raised is a free three-day rowing clinic from the Florida Rowing Center (http://www.floridarowingcenter.com) in Wellington, Fla.
Said Row for the Cure® Orlando Event Coordinator M.J. Wood: “Since I started with this project, I have been touched by the number of women who have pulled me aside to quietly tell me that they are breast-cancer survivors. These women need to be celebrated and we need to shout their victories to all who will listen. We need to find a cure, and I am honored to do my little part to help.”
Orlando Rowing Club is a nonprofit sports organization dedicated to promoting athletics and the sport of rowing in Central Florida.
Row for the Cure® events, in partnership with USRowing and Pocock Racing Shells, are held throughout the year across the country, including cities such as Portland, Ore.; Seattle; Norfolk, Va.; and San Diego, Calif. Since 1994, Row for the Cure® has raised more than $500,000 benefiting local affiliates of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in cities across the United States.
For more information about this topic and the latest updates, please contact Laura Riekki at 407-342-5353 or [email protected], or visit http://www.orlandorowingclub.com/rowforthecure.php.
