Dorney Lake on the campus of historic Eton College hosts rowing and canoe sprint events during the London Olympics in late July. Born of the rowing competitions between colleges and boarding schools across England in the 1800s, Dorney Lake offers a world-class venue for the best rowers in the world.
Name: Eton Dorney Rowing Centre at Dorney Lake
Location: 25 miles west of London in Buckinghamshire
Size: 2,200 meters (1.37 miles) in length, eight lanes wide with practice lanes joined by small channels
Capacity: 30,000 spectators per day
Staff and volunteers: 3,500 assisting the Olympians
Park size: 450 acres including an arboretum and nature preserve
Width of rowing lanes: 13.5 meters (44.3 feet) each
Depth of warm-up channel: 2.5 meters (8.2 feet)
Time to construct main lake: More than 10 years
Completion of main lake construction: 2006
Miles of conveyor belt used in construction: 2
Metric tons of gravel extracted: 4 million (8.8 billion pounds)
Cubic meters of topsoil removed: 1.97 million (69.5 million cubic feet)
Competitions hosted: Rowing, canoe sprint, kayak
Dates of events: Rowing has dates from July 28 to Aug. 4, canoe sprint and kayak events from Aug. 6 to Aug. 11
Nearby rivers: River Thames, Jubilee River
Nearest transport stops including bus: Windsor and Eton Riverside, Maidenhead
National Rail transit times: One hour from London's Waterloo station.
Number of trees on the property: 30,000
Wait times: Visitors can expect one-hour wait times before the session begins. It takes 15 minutes to get to the lake by shuttle, another 15-minute walk to the venue entrance and another 20 minutes to the stands.
Other notable facts: Dorney Lake is run by the non-profit Dorney Lake Trust. … Rowing has been a sport at Eton in the early 1800s. … The first race against rival Westminster happened in 1829. … Regular racing at Eton began in 1860. … The Eton Boat Club is the touted as the largest in the world in terms of membership. … Dorney Lake was conceived in the 1960s as a safer place for rowing than the rapid currents of the River Thames. … The boathouse was opened in 2000 and a junior program was started in 2002 as preparations for the 2012 games commenced. … Before and after the Olympics, world-class events will be held at Dorney Lake under the auspices of the college and its trustees.
William Browning has been a fan of the Summer Olympics since the games of 1984 in Los Angeles.
