This Olympic river has 500 crocodiles in it - but that's not the main concern

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This Olympic river has 500 crocodiles in it - but that's not the main concern
- Published
The annual rowing regatta for schools in the Australian state of Queensland usually passes off without too much attention.
This weekend more than 600 of the state's most promising teenage rowers are battling it out on the crocodile-inhabited Fitzroy River, in the city of Rockhampton.
"We've never had any media wanting to attend before," Anthea O'Loughlin, head of Rowing Queensland, tells the BBC.
But this year is different. In six years' time, the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics are set to stage rowing and canoe sprint events in this very stretch of water, which has just passed a technical assessment and been endorsed as safe and fair for athletes.
While sightings of saltwater crocodiles on the river – which number around 500 and can grow to four metres (13ft) long – are not uncommon, state government files going back more than 40 years record no attacks by the reptiles on humans.
And though influential figures at last month's World Rowing congress in Amsterdam made occasional references to "safety", the presence of the reptiles was not their chief concern.
"Fairness" is what's been raised with British Rowing's chief executive Tom Solesbury – a reference to the tidal river's natural bends and currents, which many in the rowing community say make it unsuitable for elite competition.
Drew Ginn, who has won three Olympic gold medals for Australia in rowing, told the BBC he had concerns over potential flooding and "fairness and integrity" at the venue.
"Personally, I'm not fearful of the Australian animals but I've never had a crocodile near me," he said.
"I'm sure I'd row faster, I'm sure all the athletes would row faster. That's on the list of concerns, I don't think it's the highest priority in concerns but it was certainly cited very early on."
The German rowing body's president Moritz Petri said athletes had also questioned the sustainability of holding the event some 600km (373 miles) from Brisbane.
But the "so-called impediments" got short shrift from the most senior politician in Queensland, state premier David Crisafulli, who reached for less diplomatic language.
"Let's be honest, let's scratch beneath the surface and call it for what it is," he said days after the Amsterdam meeting.
"It is a group of interstate and overseas elites who are trying to bully their way because they don't want to go to regional Queensland and that's not right."
Rowing chiefs contacted by the BBC before Thursday's decision declined to comment directly on Crisafulli's "elites" remarks.
But both Petri and Simon Wickham, chief executive of Rowing New Zealand, said their concerns had nothing to do with regional or urban preference but with competitors getting fair racing.
Petri added it was about what's best for their athletes who will train four years for the event, "dreaming night [after] night of becoming an Olympic champion".
And Ginn said: "If elite means having some expertise in the sport over 20 odd years, I'm proud of that."
Whether it was crocs or currents that tipped the balance, ultimately it was the sport's governing body World Rowing and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that had the final say on the river's suitability.
On Thursday they approved it after a technical assessment by an engineering firm and the Games' infrastructure authority – which looked at the riverbed, competition course, river flows, water levels and likely weather conditions during the Games.
"Based on the extensive analysis undertaken, we now know that the Fitzroy River is capable of providing fair competition conditions during the period of the Games," World Rowing president Jean-Christophe Rolland said.
There was also now "confidence" in the river for canoe sprint athletes, said Thomas Konietzko, president of that sport's governing body, Paddle Worldwide.
The state premier was delighted. "The Fitzroy has passed with flying colours," an upbeat Crisafulli told parliament. "It's official. Signed, sealed and delivered."
In backing Rockhampton, the state government ignored a 2025 report it commissioned itself, which found the location unsuitable and concluded the best option would be to use a course built in Sydney for the 2000 Olympics.
The Fitzroy now needs to pass a final assessment of its design, value for money and long-term community legacy. As the decision rests with the state government, it's unlikely to fall at this hurdle.
But a wider debate will continue over whether Rockhampton is the right place to invest heavily in rowing facilities – and whether it can accommodate the 2032 influx of visitors.
The city is surrounded by cattle producers and normally experiences its peak number of guests every three years during Beef Week.
So what about the crocodiles?
They're not mentioned anywhere in the latest update from the IOC and World Rowing and they weren't referenced in the media release about the technical assessment. That report itself has not yet been made public.
The safety management plan for this weekend's school regatta does however mention the word "crocodile" 28 times.
"The Fitzroy River is within recognised crocodile country," it says.
"Event planning must therefore assume that a crocodile sighting is possible… No natural waterway in crocodile country can be guaranteed to be crocodile-free."
Procedures this weekend include suspending racing and competitors returning to the bank if a croc is spotted. The official signal for a sighting is the call of "crocodile, crocodile, crocodile".
Asked specifically about crocodiles, New Zealand's Wickham told the BBC the primary concern was ensuring the "fairest possible course" for rowers. "We would obviously expect any course chosen to be safe for rowers," he added.
The company owned by Australia's richest person Gina Rinehart, Hancock Prospecting, which supported Rockhampton's bid and has pumped tens of millions of dollars into sports including rowing, pointed to "fake media" concerns about risks posed by flooding and crocodiles in the Fitzroy.
"The people of Rocky for many years have sent their own children to train in this river, and for competitions, without a single crocodile incident," a spokesperson said in a statement.
And those who argue the tabloid-friendly crocodile debate is overblown, say the biggest of the creatures live downstream. The less-dangerous freshwater crocodiles are more likely to be spotted in the rowing arena, they say.
Also contested by government is the flood risk, though Rowing Queensland's O'Loughlin says that their schools event was due to be held on the Fitzroy in August 2024, but had to be moved after the course was washed away.
Brisbane 2032's chief executive has said organisers are making contingency plans "as we would for any venue".
The 2000 Olympics venue in Sydney is ready and waiting as a backup – though that would be unconscionable for Queenslanders.
For the school-age rowers at this weekend's regatta, none of this debate really matters as they take to the water.
Among them are potentially some contenders for the 2032 Games.
"For our students, the Fitzroy is first and foremost their home water," says Phillip Moulds, headmaster of The Rockhampton Grammar School.
"The Fitzroy has also been the starting point for many… some of whom have gone on to compete at the highest levels of the sport nationally and internationally."
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