In the deal with the Amateur Rowing Association, the national governing body for the sport, Camelot will be associated with the lead men’s sweep crew and the lead women’s quad crew for competition and training.
The sponsorship began last Thursday, with both crews competing with Camelot-branded kit and equipment at the first World Cup in the UK for almost 20 years at Dorney Lake, near Windsor.
The agreement is set to run through four full seasons from 2005 – through the Beijing Olympiad – to January 2009, when Camelot’s current licence to operate The National Lottery expires.
The financial terms of the deal remained confidential.
The lottery operator had a four-year personal sponsorship of former coxless pair Sir Matthew Pinsent CBE and James Cracknell OBE from 2000 which evolved into a sponsorship of the coxless four - including Ed Coode MBE and Steve Williams MBE – which won a gold medal at the Athens Olympics last year.
