If you’re looking for something a bit different to do this weekend, you could head up to the Belgian Watersports Centre at Hazewinkel, where the British rowing team are conducting their final selection races for the upcoming season. In all, five Olympic champions and many more World and Olympic medallists will be slugging it out.
You don’t need to know much about the sport to enjoy the spectacle, and Hazewinkel is a delightful spot for strolling and cycling, with a nature reserve down one side of the course and woodland walks down the other. If you want to pay closer attention to the racing there will be entry lists posted up inside the admin building and possibly printed programmes available. All is freely accessible, you can rub shoulders with sporting superstars (or you could if you were 2m tall) and there’s plenty of on-site parking.
The Sunday sessions are 9:30 – 10:30 preliminary time trial and 15:00 – 17:20 semi-finals. The finals are on Monday, between 9:00 and 11:30 (for the dedicated).
More details here:
http://www.britishrowing.org/news/comebacks-and-openings-store-gb-rowing-senior-trials