Rowers from Occitania Discover Carcassonne’s Waters in “Ramons chez nos neighbors” Event: A Great Showcase for Physical Sport

Effervescence, this Saturday, June 10, in the premises of Aviron Carcassonne. Seven boats are launched one after the other: in total, 28 rowers from all over Occitania, forming teams of four, will set off on the canal one after the other. We come from Toulouse (two clubs are represented), Montauban or Valence, without forgetting the “locals” of the stage, whether they are from Castelnaudary or Port-La Nouvelle. All responded to the call of “Ramons chez nos neighbors”, a national initiative of the French Federation.

“Each year, it asks all the clubs to introduce their reach to neighboring associations”explains David Delarue, president of Aviron Carcassonne. “We ourselves took part in the demonstration at Barcarès, in Perpignan… We set a date in February, and we try to cross the calendars so that all these events do not take place at the same time. If ever it is If so, clubs travel to different cities from year to year.” Competition point here: “We are on hiking events, devoted solely to leisure. There are others of this kind, but Ramons chez nos neighbors is the most popular of all”.

Once on the boat, we become one

If it is always delightful to share around a common passion, rowing on new bodies of water is also a great pleasure, especially since this Saturday the weather in Carcassonne is especially suitable for it. An ideal environment, in short, to cover a total of 10 km between the port of Carcassonne (opposite the SNCF station) and the lock of the Douce. Yes, it’s still sport. “Each boat has a coxswain because it is better to navigate the Canal du Midi, at a time when there is beginning to be traffic on the water”, says the manager. For Aviron Carcassonne, the event also allows the club to show its good health and clearly reaffirm its return to the associative scene, after a period “a bit complicated”.

“We first suffered the Covid, like many, then we were thanked for the building we occupied at the time”, says David Delarue. This at a time when many members of the club had left to train, allowing the creation in Carcassonne of a labeled rowing school which today has seven initiators, a coach and an educator. “Mayor Gérard Larrat fortunately heard our call and made available to us, free of charge, the old Comptoirs viticoles”. It is from there that the boats leave this Saturday, June 10, there again that this high-level teaching is transmitted, allowing Aviron Carcassonne to explore all the strata of its discipline.

“There is recreational rowing + +, involving physical and logistical preparation, and the real competition”. In this game, the Carcassonnais notably shone at the Brives Internationals and played in a world final. “Ramons chez nos frontières” thus also offers enriching feedback while illustrating one of the great values ​​of rowing: erasing differences. “In our club, all social classes are represented. But once on the boat, we become one.”