Saudi Arabia—the richest Arab country, with a thriving economy driven by huge oil revenues—is aiming to become a player in international rowing by vying to host the 2025 indoor-rowing championships and the 2027 Beach Sprint championships.
To continue reading…
This article is exclusively for Rowing News subscribers. For as little as $5 a month, you can get access to the best quality, independent reporting on all the issues that matter to the North American rowing community.
Already a subscriber? Login
Rowing “encourages a competitive environment in the country,” said Husein Alireza, an Olympian and captain of the Saudi Rowing Team during an Arab News podcast.
“To host world-class athletes, to demonstrate world-class performances and expose the people to what it takes to perform on the world stage, that’s priceless. It inspires people.”
The Saudi Rowing Federation, formed three years ago, has ambitious plans to discover, recruit, and develop promising rowers in the nation of 36 million people. Scouts have visited some 50 schools to conduct fitness assessments and identify students who, because they are tall and long-limbed, are suited biomechanically to excel in the sport.
Prospects will begin by learning how to row and will progress through several stages of development until they’re capable of competing and winning at the elite level. The coach of the Saudi team is top-tier—Matthew Tarrant, a two-time British Olympian who rowed in the coxed pair, coxed four, and eight and won medals in five world championships, two of them gold.
Alireza, Saudi Arabia’s first rowing Olympian, competed in the single scull in Tokyo in 2021. He began rowing at Cambridge University, where he was coached by the esteemed oarsman Bill Barry, who continued to guide Alireza when he earned an Olympic spot after capturing a gold medal at the Saudi Games. (Barry attended another Tokyo Olympics—in 1964—as an athlete, winning silver in the coxless four.)
During the four years he prepared for the Olympics, Alireza trained relentlessly, rowing three times a day, and taking a day off only once every two weeks.
Alireza views rowing as a way to diversify further Saudi Arabia’s booming sports scene (the number of sports federations in the kingdom has tripled, soaring to 97 from 32 in 2015) and dilute the dominance of football (soccer). He’s excited especially about the potential appeal of spectator-friendly coastal rowing and Beach Sprints.
Coastal rowing, which debuts at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, “opens up a whole new world,” he said. “It’s a little easier to get a hold of and to master than traditional rowing, so it’ll involve a lot more Saudis.”
With its many beaches, Saudi Arabia is an ideal venue for such contests, he added.
“The social and economic benefits of hosting these events are undeniable and well-documented,” Alireza said. Sports participation “decreases stress and improves the health of the general population, which in turn decreases the costs of health care. It’s intrinsically linked to the quality of life.”
Saudi Arabia is moving aggressively to broaden its economy and reduce its reliance on oil by promoting sports, entertainment, and tourism and is spending billions to do so as part of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s Vision 2030. The country is liberalizing its laws and investing in the traditionally marginalized, such as youth and women. In 2018, women were allowed to drive for the first time in history.
The two pillars of fostering sports like rowing are opportunity and support, and the Saudi government, through its Sovereign Wealth Fund, is putting its money where its mouth is, channeling $427 billion into bolstering its various sports federations.
In 2021, the kingdom shook up the world of golf when it ponied up $2 billion to launch the LIV Golf Tour, luring star players from the PGA with lucrative cash payouts. That same year, the first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, a Formula One race, took place, a contest that recurs this month.
Late last year, Jeddah was the site of an America’s Cup preliminary regatta, and in 2034 the kingdom will host the Asian Games and the 25th FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia has been staging professional wrestling events since 2014 and purchased a $100-million stake recently in a mixed-martial-arts league.
The nation has become the home of elite boxing and is negotiating to host a new Masters 1000 professional tennis tournament as early as January of next year.
“It’s amazing the diversity of the events we are hosting,” Alireza said. “If we are ready to host world-class events, then why not? We don’t have to explain why these events are happening here. It’s because we can.”
