The Fitzroy River has not been approved as the Brisbane 2032 rowing venue, World Rowing president Jean-Christophe Rolland has said. His verdict comes a month after Queensland Premier David Crisafulli told state parliament the Rockhampton course was "signed, sealed and delivered".
In an interview with Francs Jeux published on 12 October, Rolland said the evaluation was still under way, "contrary to what was announced". The first part of the technical work had been encouraging, he said: "Under normal conditions during the Games period, the site is entirely suitable for hosting events."
Rolland’s concern extends to what the river might do before the Games. Rain had produced very strong currents on the Fitzroy twice this year, he said.
"If it happened in the year of the Olympic Games, it would seriously call this site into question," Rolland said (quotes translated from French). "If the river is flooding in the months before the Olympics, we will have a major problem delivering the Games. These questions remain unresolved; until we have the answers, we cannot guarantee that this site is approved. At present, it is not approved."
Questions remain over course marking, the start and finish towers, the start pontoon, grandstands and access for athletes and spectators, Rolland said. "Today, we have no information on all these fundamental points." He expects the technical analysis of the whole project by the end of 2026 or in early 2027.
Brisbane 2032 rowing venue: what was endorsed?
On 17 September, Crisafulli and Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie announced that the international federations' endorsement had confirmed Rockhampton as the venue for rowing, Para rowing, canoe sprint and Para canoe.
The federations' own joint statement the next day was narrower. It confirmed a "safe, fair and consistent field of play under the conditions assessed". It also asked for technical details, service levels and facilities to be confirmed through the Project Validation Report process led by the Games Independent Infrastructure Coordination Authority (GIICA). Rowing Australia said it had taken no part in the independent assessment. We set out that conditional endorsement at the time.
The assessment itself has not been published. Pressed on whether he had read it, Crisafulli replied: "I have read the comments. I make the observation it has passed with flying colours." The dispute continued into October.
Asked about flooding, Bleijie compared the risk with disruption at Paris 2024, according to Inside The Games: "Well, there's hypotheticals for everything. For goodness' sake, in Paris the river was unsafely contaminated so they pushed back … two days the swimming event."
Rockhampton lies about 600 kilometres north of Brisbane. The planned venue would hold 14,000 spectators, and GIICA lists it as being in the planning and approvals phase into 2027.
Flood risk was among the concerns raised by Britain, New Zealand, Germany and Canada at the World Rowing Congress in Amsterdam, after which Brisbane 2032 promised contingency planning. Rolland’s comments make clear that flood concerns and outstanding technical questions remain unresolved.
