Tasmania's international rowing venue and Olympic team leader have proved equally valuable as Australia fine tunes its approach to this year's Tokyo Games.
This is the opinion voiced by John Coates, one of the most powerful figures in Australian sport, during a brief visit to the state this week.
At Lake Barrington for the national rowing championships, the Australian Olympic Committee president and International Olympic Committee vice-president confirmed the country was in a strong position four months out from the rescheduled 2020 global showpiece.
Coates said Legana father-of-three Ian Chesterman has "done a remarkable job" as the nation's Olympic team leader.
"Ian had been Chef de Mission six times for our winter team and has slipped into this role very comfortably.
"It's been very important for him to get round to all of the training camps across Australia where our athletes are and communicate to them what is happening and what restrictions there are going to be and the communication has been outstanding with him. We're very happy with Ian."
But the Rowing Australia life member saved his highest praise for the venue which he helped secure the sport's world championships back in 1990.
"I love this venue. It's just a special environment," said the 70-year-old lawyer and sports administrator, who has been a fixture of Summer Olympics for four decades.
"What's really impressed me, and I haven't been here for a while, is the on-shore facilities. Camps for rowers are much easier and have accommodated a very good crowd of 5000. I gather this is the second largest number of spectators we've ever had for an Australian championships, notwithstanding COVID and the distance.
"The great thing is it's protected and any winds tend to come up or down the course. That makes for quality water for the athletes. You can row for a long way when you are here for training, you don't have to have a separate return lake, there is room to go up the side of the course to get back.
"I'm a former president of rowing, it's my sport. I've missed international meetings and was very keen to get down here and mix with the athletes and try and give them some positivity about Tokyo and it's nice to be here.
"We've been very strong in the sport for most of the last decade. There are 14 Olympic-class boats and we're regularly winning medals. I think we've qualified already in 10 of them and will try and qualify the remaining ones and out of that most of those are finalists."
Rob Shaw
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
