To much of the rowing community, perhaps it was inevitable. Filippi has long been an object of desire for many national teams and the athletes who represent them. USRowing, the prestigious American rowing team and a point of reference for the United States rowing movement, has also entered into a cooperation pact with Filippi. As dreams go, created at the inception of the Filippi brand by our founder Lido Filippi and carried forward by his son David, this is a particularly special one to come true.
In fact in the past nine months, the Filippi world has changed for the better and forever. Momentum is something that helps to define sporting progress and our global growth was reinforced when last Friday, US Rowing Federation, home to numerous incredible clubs, schools, colleges and excellent boat-builders, selected Filippi to support their Olympic and Paralympic athletes on their journey to Paris 2024.
We are dreamers, fueled and inspired by the force of our commitment to innovation and excellence. In the meanwhile the dream of a parade of white on the start-line of international competitions, came true. Most of all, we dreamed about reaching the summit of boat-building glory – building the eight that crossed the line first at the Olympic Games. When you work hard, day after day, nothing happens by chance. Which is why, last summer, our F49 carried the New Zealand Men’s Eight into the chapters of rowing history as Olympic champions; their extraordinary performance filled us with the resolve that our commitment to our customers was proper and effective. Then, in another huge step for Filippi, our F42 took Cambridge’s women to victory in the most historic of rowing races; the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race on the River Thames in London. Victory was not enough for the Light Blues though – they smashed the course record in our boat.
A Filippi four with Aliante configuration, customized with the official US Rowing and Filippi colors/logos.
In sport, the real challenge lies not in reaching the top but staying there and maybe to raise the bar. Our partnership with USRowing gives us a huge opportunity; a country whose dedication to this sport has redefined the meaning of quality across age, gender and background and whose love for their national team knows no bounds. The expectation comes in spades and we have the experience and qualifications to meet and master this new challenge.
Our team in the USA, led by Alessandro Selvig from Elite Rowing inc, are prepared to address the needs of customers and enthusiasts across the country.
Back across the Atlantic, in our boatyard in Donoratico nestled by the Italian coast, we will bring to bear the full suite of manual and technological skill, attention to detail and care that has marked Filippi out as one of the world’s leading rowing boat brands. Our team of engineers have been working tirelessly for months to revolutionize our product, regardless of the results of other competitors.
Our teaming is key to the success we’ve enjoyed and the advantage of collaborating with USRowing Chief High Performance Officer Josy Verdonkschot is clear; an athlete turned coach who is a decisive technician and student of the sport, with prior experience winning for The Netherlands and working with Filippi.
In mid-April, the first container will leave our boatyard bound for Boston, where our dealership is situated. Another will follow in mid-May. Needless to say, the first boats to land on American soil will be men’s and women’s eights. Our project is unlimited in scope – we plan to support across the full range of Olympic and Paralympic boat classes. Our great adventure begins now: ‘winning together’ as David Filippi said is more than a promise…
