Jean-Christophe Rolland to be new FISA President

Olympic champion Jean-Christophe Rolland has been elected as the future President of FISA at the FISA Ordinary Congress following the 2013 World Rowing Championships in Chungju, South Korea.

Rolland will become president in July 2014, when long-standing current president Denis Oswald steps down after 15 years at the head of World Rowing. Tricia Smith has been elected as Vice President, and British Rowing’s Mike Williams has been re-elected as FISA Treasurer.

Rolland competed in three Olympic Games for France, winning a bronze medal in the coxless pairs at Atlanta 1996 and gold in Sydney in 2000. His career in the sport spans 30 years – 20 of those with FISA, Rowing’s International Federation. He has had a number of roles within FISA, as Chair of the Athletes Commission and as a member of FISA Council and Executive Committee.

In his manifesto Rolland paid tribute to the “outstanding dedication of the outgoing President Denis Oswald, an inspirational leader who has ensured rowing’s great reputation on the international stage.” Denis Oswald has led an organisation “respected for its fair spirit, constructive atmosphere, the commitment of all members and devoted to the benefit of our sport and its community.”

At the end of the Ordinary Congress, Oswald was appointed as Honorary President for life, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the sport.

The Congress followed a hugely successful World Rowing Championships in which the GB Rowing Team won gold in the women’s pair, the LTAMix4+ and, in a thrilling finale, the men’s eight. Read more at: https://www.britishrowing.org/news/2013/september/1/historic-gold-gb-rowing-team-mens-eight-worlds.