Loading…
The Fitzroy River at Rockhampton in Queensland was confirmed on 17 September 2026 as the rowing and canoeing venue for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
An independent technical assessment commissioned by the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority examined flows, water levels, barrage operations, wind and flood risk.
The assessment did not look at the river's roughly 500 saltwater crocodiles; the course sits on the freshwater stretch upstream of the Fitzroy barrage.
World Rowing and Paddle Worldwide - the renamed International Canoe Federation - endorsed the course as capable of providing fair competition conditions.
Rockhampton lies about 600 km north of Brisbane, making this one of the most distant venues of a Games already spread across Queensland.
The Fitzroy River is a major river of Queensland, Australia. It is formed by the confluence of the Dawson and Mackenzie rivers on the slopes of the Great Dividing Range, flows north-east across the Broadsound Range and then south-east through distributaries into Keppel Bay, part of the Coral Sea of the Pacific Ocean, after a course of 480 km. Its catchment, the Fitzroy Basin, is Australia's second-largest river system. Rockhampton, the main city on its banks and the head of ocean navigation, lies on the Tropic of Capricorn about 600 km north of Brisbane.
International governing body for rowing; endorsed the Fitzroy course
The International Canoe Federation under its new identity adopted in 2026; world body for canoeing and kayaking
Queensland authority that plans and coordinates Brisbane 2032 venues and infrastructure; commissioned the independent technical assessment
Awarded the 2032 Games to Brisbane at its 138th Session in Tokyo on 21 July 2021 and confirms venue changes
The saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), the species at the centre of the Fitzroy debate, enjoys the highest level of protection in India under Schedule I of this Act.
Crocodylus porosus is listed in Appendix I, except in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Malaysia, where the population is in Appendix II and regulated trade is allowed.
General Awareness > Sports and world geography
GS Paper 1 > World Geography > Important rivers and physical features
A low dam with gates that regulates river level and flow; the Fitzroy barrage separates the freshwater racing stretch from the tidal reach.
A straight, still-water racing stretch used for Olympic rowing and sprint canoeing, distinct from the artificial whitewater course used for slalom.
The 142,000 sq km catchment of the Fitzroy River, Australia's second-largest river system.