Olympic gold medallist Tim Foster has thrown his weight behind plans to build the Willington Rowing Lake and Country Park.

For some time, the lake and park has been mooted as a potential training venue for the 2012 Olympic Games, which were awarded to London earlier this month.

Consultations about the plans have been going on for a number of years. And with London promising to host the best ever games, investment will soon be needed for grass roots facilities.

Foster believes the Olympic committee need look no further than the town he learned to row in.

"The river that runs through Bedford is beautiful and we are very lucky to have it, but it is just not feasible for Olympic crews to row on," he said.

"There are various obstacles like bridges and it has plenty of other river users, so we need an area which is dedicated just for rowing.

"In England we only have one place good enough which is the Dorney Lake at Eton where the main events will be rowed.

"Other than that there is nowhere else, so Willington would be the perfect option, especially as Bedford has good travel links to London.

"When I rowed in Sydney we set up a training camp on the Gold Coast, and if we could get the facilities right then I am confident that some nations would want to set up a base in Willington."

Although the process of building a lake sounds fairly straightforward, it would take several years before the project is completed so Foster is keen for the county council to make a swift decision.

"The mechanics behind a construction like this are that a hole about 2km long, 100m wide and 100m deep needs to be dug," he said. "Although that sounds easy enough, if we got the go-ahead today it would not be ready until about 2009.

"With the Games in 2012 then that would fit into the schedule perfectly so all that needs to be done is to lobby the county council and hopefully they make the right decision."
The chance of cheering on some local rowers at the Olympics becomes more possible with clubs like Star in Bedford setting up their World Class Start programmes, which Foster visited this week.

He added: "These kind of initiatives are superb for local clubs.

"There is a certain size you need to be as an Olympic rower, and they are definitely picking the right people as I was being dwarfed by some of the 16-year-olds.

"Although they are pretty raw at the moment, there is potential there for excellent rowers to come through.

"The advice I can give is that it will take plenty of hard work to be involved in the Olympics, but if you can make it the rewards are great."