Eton College in Windsor was founded in 1440, and since the early 1800s, the sport of choice has been rowing.
In 2004, Eton and Westminster celebrated the 175th anniversary of their annual rowing race. Hence Eton has built a rowing facility with CCTV for security.
Dorney Lakes
For centuries Etonโs pupils have rowed on the River Thames. Its unpredictable river conditions, however, have always been a concern. In the winter months, when much of the training takes place, dangerous conditions often keep rowers off the river for weeks at a time. In the summer, there can be conflicts of interest between rowers and leisure craft.
The impetus of the Dorney Lakes Project was the construction of an international standard rowing, canoeing lake, park, arboretum and nature conservation area with the ultimate hope that the Dorney Rowing Lakes could be used as a rowing venue for the 2012 Olympics should the bid be successful.
Dual purpose
Through a combination of Pelco fixed cameras with SIMD technology, Spectra III positioning systems, PelcoFiber fiber optic transmission equipment and DX8000 digital video recorders, Pelco and Surrey-based integrator WOT Security provided a high security profile for the venue. There are independent camera control positions and viewing stations. The site also has an internal and external intruder alarm system, which is integrated into the Pelco video security system, to allow the cameras to respond to specific incidents. The CCTV system, however, needed to accomplish more than just security. It was required that the installed system also record training and competitive racing, to be used for training review and commercial purposes. As such the security system delivers near broadcast-quality images as it records all rowing activities on the lake, including start and finish line activity. Video is then burned to DVDs from the DX8000 digital video recorders and sold to clients to help in their training regimen.
WOT Security
WOT Security Ltd reports it was chosen for this important national project due to its competitive pricing, the quality of technical support, and the fact that it had submitted a supporting business case with its documentation. Additionally, the client preferred WOT Security Groupโs decision to source the entire project from a single manufacturer โ Pelco.
From the initial design stages through final completion, WOT Security reports that it worked very closely with Pelco UK, to ensure the design would meet the clientโs requirements. "We cannot stress enough the importance of the efforts of Kevin Smith and Steve Lane from Pelco UK in this project," said Paul Morris, Managing Director, WOT Security Group. "Their professionalism and enthusiasm helped us reinforce to our client the effectiveness of the partnership that exists between Pelco and WOT Security Ltd. And because of this relationship, WOT Security is committed to working with Pelco at any opportunity and confirms that Pelco is its preferred manufacturer of choice for any and all video security solutions.
Official Opening Day
On May 17, 2005 the Provost of Eton College, Sir Eric Anderson; the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor, Emrys Richards; and members of the national and international rowing fraternity officially opened the Lake. It was recognised during the ceremony that Dorney Lakes was the number-one international rowing venue in the world. Following the ribbon cutting, guests in attendance had the opportunity to experience for themselves the Pelco video security system. Comments from those in attendance included statements that they had never before seen such high-quality video images from a security system. Moreover, they felt that WOT Security and Pelco had exceeded all expectations in delivering such a video security system, on time and on budget, and would have no hesitation in recommending and supporting both companies in future projects.
