2020 World Rowing Awards replaced by a month of rowing celebration

The FISA Executive Committee has determined that presenting awards for 2020 would be inappropriate as there will be almost no rowing racing in 2020. This has led to the decision to replace the annual awards for a month of rowing celebration.

The public will be asked to nominate an individual or individuals who have acted with courage, helped others or created new ideas on how to handle the difficult situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Through the month of November, those nominated individuals will be featured through World Rowing’s communications channels.

“This is a most unusual year for sport with so many events being cancelled or postponed,” says FISA President Jean-Christophe Rolland. “We wanted to show that through the year there was still much happening in the rowing community, whether it was rowers innovatively adapting their training to be indoors or rowers helping on the front lines, especially in essential services.” 

Usually the Awards are presented at the annual Coaches Conference in November. For this year, there will be no awards; instead it will simply be a celebration of the sport of rowing and how 2020 shaped the rowing community.

The Thomas Keller Medal, Filippi Spirit Award, Distinguished Services Medal and Sustainability Award will also have a hiatus as the sport collects itself and gets ready for the 2021 season.