British Rowing is delighted to confirm the appointment of Jeremy Wilton as Chair of the Steering Group for the 2022 World Rowing Coastal Championships and Beach Sprint Finals following an open recruitment process. Wilton will oversee the organisation of the event due to take place in October 2022 on the beach in Saundersfoot in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
British Rowing was awarded the 2022 World Rowing Coastal Championships and Beach Sprint Finals by World Rowing in a competitive bidding process earlier this year. The event will take place over two weekends in October and is expected to see over one thousand international competitors travel to Pembrokeshire, providing a welcome boost to the local economy. Some form of coastal rowing is anticipated to become part of the Olympic programme from Paris 2024 onwards so the event in Wales will potentially be one of the first international events in this new, exhilarating discipline of rowing.
Wilton was previously Chief Operating Officer at Wasps Rugby and has over 25 year’s experience in sports administration and a strong commercial background. He has led and worked on a broad breadth of sporting events including The Commonwealth Games 2002, Rugby World Cup 1995, The Heineken European Cup, Four Nations Rugby League Competition, Stella Artois Tennis Championships, The Derby Festival, Whitbread Round The World Race (which has now become The Ocean Race), and Royal Ascot. Wilton and his family also have a strong rowing association from his father who rowed internationally and for London Rowing Club through to himself, having rowed at school and university.
Wilton is excited to be combining his rowing and professional experience, “I am delighted to have been appointed Chair of the Steering Group where I can bring together my knowledge and experience from the last 25 years, together with my enthusiasm for coastal rowing and beach sport. This format of rowing is fast developing and with the profile of these World Rowing Coastal Championships and Beach Sprint Finals, I’m hoping we can bring greater diversity to the sport. It’s going to be an exciting couple of years bringing the Championships to fruition and with the support of the local community in Saundersfoot, deliver a world-class event”.
British Rowing CEO, Andy Parkinson, is pleased to see someone with Wilton’s experience at the forefront of the event, “Jeremy brings a wealth of experience to the table and will help us really step up the development of coastal rowing as an exciting and spectacular format of rowing”.