Dorney Lake
Aerial view of Dorney Lake
Location	Buckinghamshire
Coordinates	51°29′36″N 0°39′56″W / 51.4933°N 0.6655°W / 51.4933; -0.6655Coordinates: 51°29′36″N 0°39′56″W / 51.4933°N 0.6655°W / 51.4933; -0.6655
Lake type	Artificial lake, rowing lake
Basin countries	United Kingdom

Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is located at grid reference SU929779 near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and lies near the towns of Windsor and Eton, close to the River Thames. The lake is privately owned and financed by Eton College, which spent £17 million developing it. Additional grants, totalling £500,000, were obtained from Sport England, UK Sport, the DCMS and SEEDA in order to build the lake's finish tower. The project was completed in 2006, after 10 years of construction.^[1] Although it is primarily for use by the school, the facilities are hired out for rowing, as well as for canoeing, dragon boating and triathlon training.

The lake will be used as the 2012 Summer Olympic venue for rowing and canoe sprint (the whitewater events will take place at Lee Valley White Water Centre in Hertfordshire), and as the 2012 Summer Paralympic venue for rowing. To provide for Olympic spectators, the existing facilities are being enhanced to include 20,000 additional seats; most of these seats will be temporary. Construction began in October 2009 of enhancements to Dorney Lake, including a new cut-through between the competition lake and the return lane, a new bridge and an upgraded access road, funded by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).^[2] During the Olympic events, Dorney Lake will be staffed by around 3,500 personnel, including volunteers.^[3]

Past and forthcoming events[link]

As of April 2012, Dorney Lake has hosted or is expected to host the following international rowing events:

• Rowing World Cup 2005 (26 May – 28 May)
• Coupe de la Jeunesse 2005 (29 July – 31 July)
• World Rowing Championships 2006 (20 August – 27 August)
• Junior World Rowing Championships 2011 (3 August – 7 August)
• 2012 Summer Olympics 2012 (27 July – 12 August: rowing from 28 July to 4 August, then canoe sprint)^[4]
• 2012 Summer Paralympics 2012 (29 August – 9 September: rowing from 31 August to 2 September)

Lake specifications[link]

The rowers' starting line at Dorney Lake.

• Stillwater, with consistent water conditions
• 2,200 metres (7,200 ft) straight length for racing
• 8 rowing lanes, each 13.5 metres (44 ft) wide
• Minimum water depth of 3.5 metres (11 ft)
• A return channel allowing boats to move to the start, separated from the main lake by an island

These follow the FISA rules for a rowing lake suitable for hosting a World Rowing Championship, World Rowing Cup or Olympic regatta.

Home regattas[link]

Since the lake was opened, a number of regattas that were previously held on the River Thames have been transferred to the lake. These include the following:

• Marlow Regatta, June
• Metropolitan Regatta, May/June
• Wallingford Regatta, May

Public access[link]

The public is allowed to use the grounds on all but a few days of the year. The 2-kilometre-long flat, straight paths that run along each side of the main lake make it a popular venue for runners, skaters, and even cross country skiers practising with roller skis.

See also[link]

• Eton College
• Eton Racing Boats
• Rowing on the River Thames
• Summerleaze Footbridge

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Dorney Lake website

v t e Olympic venues in canoeing 1936: Grünau Regatta Course 1948: Henley Royal Regatta 1952: Taivallahti 1956: Lake Wendouree 1960: Lake Albano 1964: Lake Sagami 1968: Virgilio Uribe Rowing and Canoeing Course 1972: Eiskanal, Regattastrecke Oberschleißheim 1976: Île Notre-Dame 1980: Krylatskoye Sports Complex Canoeing and Rowing Basin 1984: Lake Casitas 1988: Han River Regatta Course/Canoeing Site 1992: Canal Olímpic de Catalunya, Parc Olímpic del Segre 1996: Lake Lanier, Ocoee Whitewater Center 2000: Penrith Whitewater Stadium, Sydney International Regatta Centre 2004: Olympic Canoe/Kayak Slalom Centre, Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre 2008: Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park 2012: Dorney Lake, Lee Valley White Water Centre 2016: Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, Olympic Whitewater Stadium

v t e Olympic venues in rowing 1900: Seine 1904: Creve Coeur Lake 1908: Henley Royal Regatta 1912: Djurgårdsbrunnsviken 1920: Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal 1924: Bassin d'Argentuil 1928: Sloten 1932: Long Beach Marine Stadium 1936: Grünau Regatta Course 1948: Henley Royal Regatta 1952: Meilahti 1956: Lake Wendouree 1960: Lake Albano 1964: Toda Rowing Course 1968: Virgilio Uribe Rowing and Canoeing Course 1972: Oberschleißheim Regatta Course 1976: Île Notre-Dame 1980: Krylatskoye Sports Complex Canoeing and Rowing Basin 1984: Lake Casitas 1988: Han River Regatta Course/Canoeing Site 1992: Lake of Banyoles 1996: Lake Lanier 2000: Sydney International Regatta Centre 2004: Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre 2008: Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park 2012: Dorney Lake 2016: Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas

Coordinates: 51°30′09″N 0°40′33″W / 51.50246°N 0.67593°W / 51.50246; -0.67593

Dorney
Dorney  Dorney shown within Buckinghamshire
Population	713 [1]
OS grid reference	SU929790
District	South Bucks
Shire county	Buckinghamshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WINDSOR
Postcode district	SL4
Dialling code	01628
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Buckinghamshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
List of places: UK • England • Buckinghamshire

Dorney is a village and civil parish within South Bucks district in the English county of Buckinghamshire, near Slough and about two and a half miles west of Eton.

The village name is Old English and means "island frequented by bumble bees". This refers to the fact that it was once a patch of hard ground in the middle of a marshy bog, though with modern farming methods the marshland has more or less disappeared. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the village was referred to as Dornei.

The manor house, Dorney Court, is listed among England's many fine country houses. The nearby Dorneywood is used as country home for a senior member of the Government, usually a Secretary of State or Minister of the Crown.

Today the village's proximity to the M4 motorway (therefore with a close link into London) has meant that it is now an area popular with executives and commuters. It is also the location of Dorney Lake, where the canoeing and rowing events at the 2012 Summer Olympics are to be held.

The village is on the north bank of the River Thames, and is surrounded to the south, east and west by the non-metropolitan county of Berkshire, with only a narrow strip of land running north (through Burnham) to the main body of Buckinghamshire. This anomaly dates to the Local Government Act 1972, which came into force on April 1, 1974 – the village had been originally included in Berkshire as the Bill, but an amendment to keep it in Buckinghamshire was proposed by local MP Ronald Bell, and accepted by the government.^[2]

The parish church is dedicated to Saint James.

Dorney is where the first pineapple in the UK was grown^{[citation needed]}. There is a pub in the village named The Pineapple.

In 1961 a cornfield at Dorney was the scene of a famous abduction. A lone gunman, James Hanratty, abducted Valerie Storie and Michael Gregsten in a Morris Minor parked in the cornfield. He forced them at gunpoint to drive to a lay-by on the A6 just south of Bedford where he shot and murdered Gregsten, raped Valerie Storie before shooting her as well. She survived but was paralysed.

Within the parish of Dorney are the hamlets of Dorney Reach and Lake End.

References[link]

1. ^ 2001 Census
2. ^ Hansard, 6 July 1972. Column 995-1001

External links[link]

Media related to Dorney at Wikimedia Commons

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