The Australian rowing team has marked itself a serious medal contender at the 2012 London Olympic Games with a record medal haul at the recent FISA World Championships.

The team’s top performance saw it bring home ten medals – 3 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze. Seven medals were in Olympic and Paralympic category events.

Australia was placed 2nd out of 68 countries, behind Great Britain which won 14 medals.

Of the 18 events the team competed in, Australia qualified for an incredible 16 A finals.

Ten of the 11 boats attempting to qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games were successful.

Another two boats qualified for the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

Highlights of the championships included Australia’s lightweight men’s four breaking its 30-year drought to win gold with a stirring performance.

The very next day, the men’s quad scull won Australia’s first ever gold medal in that boat class.

Australia’s third gold medal was won by the lightweight men’s eight capping off a brilliant regatta for the team.

New European training centre proves crucial

The new AIS European Training Centre played a key role in the team’s preparation for the world championships.

Located on the shores of picturesque Lake Varese in Gavirate, Italy, the training centre officially opened in March this year and includes state-of-the-art training facilities and access to an international rowing course.

Rowing Australia’s High Performance Director, Andrew Matheson, said Australia was well placed for the 2012 London Games following the record medal haul.

‘Across all boat classes our crews put their hands up and showed what the team is capable of,’ he said.

‘Our world championship performance has given the team a boost in confidence but we’ll now move on, re-assess and then firmly fix our sights on London next year.’

Rowing Australia will hold selection trials in December this year and in March 2012 before nominating its team to the Australian Olympic Committee in April.

Australia wins major coup to host world championships

Rowing Australia and the NSW Government have pulled off a major coup to secure the rights to stage the opening round of the prestigious FISA World Rowing Cup series in 2013 and 2014.

It is the first time the event has been awarded to the southern hemisphere and only the second time the series has left Europe.

The event will be held in Western Sydney at the Sydney International Regatta Centre in Penrith.

In addition the City of Ballarat in western Victoria will also host the FISA World Rowing Masters in 2014.

The Australian Government contributes almost $8 million to Rowing Australia’s activities each year. This includes a recent $350 000 funding boost to Australia’s top rowers under the government’s Green and Gold project, which directs funding to key Olympic and Paralympic sports where it will make a difference.