The Chilean Olympic Rowing Training facility that hosted the Olympic Qualification Regatta in March that saw Bermuda Olympian Shelley Pearson Qualify, burned to the ground this week. Several athletes and staff were staying in the facility at the time, but all escaped safely.
FISA umpire Monica de la Maza Leniz wrote the following:
Dear friends, yes this is what is left of our CEO (Centro de Entrenamiento Olímpico) after yesterday's fire.
All our national team are safe but very shocked. The kids were living there after the World Cups because they enter to study at the University here in Viña.
Luckily there was a man that you may remember named Perita that was sleeping where the kitchen was as a guard and he gave the alert and woke up the kids. In less than 10 minutes all the building was in fire. Meli, Antonia and Josefa ran out by the front door but the boys couldn't so they escaped through the windows.
No one could take anything, just what they were wearing at 4 am. It is a very sad situation but they are all safe. Now they just started dealing with the memories of that panic they felt.
The NOC have had a terrific attitude with them. The president came immediately from Santiago and the kids ask me to go with them to buy clothes. They were in pajamas at the mall. After that they got rooms at the hotel but today the manager of the CEO found a house near the lagoon so maybe tomorrow they could move there and try to re start again. Anyway, the head coach asked them to get immediately back to the water yesterday afternoon.
Well that is what we will do. At least the NOC bought clothes to wear for all and they will send tomorrow all the national team uniforms again.
As far as I've seen, the Olympic Committee is reacting very fast and kindly with the kids.
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