Area community colleges and select high school campuses will be examined for suitability. The course can be on a canal, river or lake. Lakes do not need to be natural, but the venue must be sheltered from the wind as much as possible. The venue should be as close to the host city and Olympic Village as possible and feature a grandstand that can hold 25,000. Noise is undesirable, which rules out lakes too close to airports.
Waves also are unwelcome.
Four or five course areas are required. Each must have a radius of at least three-quarters of a mile. The Olympic regatta took place in the Atlantic Ocean near Savannah, Ga., during the 1996 Atlanta Games. Dallas 2012 wants to keep as many events as possible within an hour's drive of Dallas, so forget any ocean notions. The center has an Olympic-standard range and a convenient location.