The Armida Rowing Club (ARC) is one of the first Italian rowing clubs, founded in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

in 1869.SIUSA
Società canottieri Armida di Torino

History

In the late 19th century several sports clubs were established by the generic name of 'Canottieri' (Rowers) in the

Valentino Park Parco del Valentino (also known as Valentino Park) is a popular public park in Turin, Italy. It is located along the west bank of the Po river. It covers an area of 500,000m², which makes it Turin's second largest park (Turin's largest park, the ...

in Turin. In 1869 the Canottieri Armida was founded. The original members were a group of young people only inspired by the desire to have fun paddling on the river. This group of young people joined a company called Flik and Flok in 1863. Originally called Mek-Mek, the Canottieri Armida was formed through its merger with Flik and Flok in 1869. The sports club took the name Armida on 25 February 1874 and a few months later - on 17 May 1874 - its first real social statute was approved. As a result of the strict rules imposed by it such as the prohibition of intemperance, the obligation of proper behaviour and correct ways of speaking, the duty of good conduct, the ban of gambling in addition to the self-discipline required for rowing and swimming competitively, the Armida Rowing Club was able to reach the top of the Italian rowing throughout its history. In 1888 the Armida Rowing Club contributed with other rowing clubs to the establishment of the Italian Rowing Club, nowadays known as the Italian Rowing Federation. In 1967 the Armida Rowing Club was awarded with the Golden Star for sporting merits by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI). The Armida Rowing Club debuted in an official match in 1877. The achieved results were so disappointing that it was only in 1881 that the club returned to the competitions. The first major victory occurred in the fall of 1884: Gillardi won the first prize in the men's single scull race, Nicola in turn dominated the skiff race. In 1889 the Armida Rowing Club introduced one of the best rowing boats designed for four persons at the time, the Savoia. Its crew consisted of the stroke Alessandro Rigat, Vittorio Nicola,

Edoardo Bosio Edoardo Bosio (; 9 November 1864 – 31 July 1927) was an Italian footballing innovator from Turin who played as a forward. He is a prime figure in the history of Italian football as evidence exists to show that he founded the earliest football c ...

, Giuseppe Capellaro and the cox Andrea Marchisio. The Savoia's crew became the Italian champion on several occasions and also won the Queen's Cup for two consecutive years. In 2006 the Armida Rowing Club resumed the ancient tradition of Venetian rowing, organizing courses and events in order to promote it. The Armida Rowing Club hosts the well renowned regatta event Trofeo sull'Acqua, which takes place in the fishpond of the

Palace of Venaria The Palace of Venaria () is a former royal residence and gardens located in Venaria Reale, near the city of Turin in the Piedmont region in northern Italy. It is one of the 14 Residences of the Royal House of Savoy built in the area between the 1 ...

The venue

The complex of social facilities of the Armida Rowing Club was always located in the

. The venue offers a meeting place from which it is possible to enjoy peacefully one of the most suggestive sceneries of Turin since 140 years. The main building, which was once the home of the "Pavilion of French Colonies" during the World Exhibition of 1911, is today supervised by the government department responsible for the environment and historical buildings.

References

{{reflist

External links

ARC website
History of rowing Sport in Turin Rowing in Italy