Wednesday 21st December 2005
- GB selection correction: - for senior lightweight (M & W) triallists and their coaches. "Correct weight targets for April 2006, including the GB rowing senior trials in Hazewinkel, should read Summer race weight plus 1.0kg, NOT plus 1.5kg as incorrectly printed in the Strategy Document and Regatta Magazine." (From David Tanner, BIRO International Manager). This message was also publicised at the recent GB trials (UK).
- And another UK message: "The National Schools Regatta & Rowing Foundation announce with regret that they will no longer be able to offer the prize of a sculling boat for the winners of the Championship Boys and Girls Single Sculls at the National Schools Regatta. Thanks to the generosity of the Rickett family the boat for the boys has been presented since 1990 (at the National Championships) and from 1994 at the National Schools Regatta. The girls' boat has been funded by the Fangen family since 2001 in memory of their daughter." A great pity - ed.
- RG Hansa Hamburg (Germany) are advertising their Head Coach job. Details in this PDF document, closing date 15th January 2006.
- The FISA Safety Guidelines have been published here on their website.
- Amongst the nutters rowing the Atlantic at the moment is solo rower Chris Martin, Molesey boy extraordinaire. You can sponsor his effort for just £10, and to add bite to the deal he's offering a set of prizes (including Ben & Jerry's icecream, Lonely Planet guides, and toys) to the person who sponsors the mile he's on at midnight on New Year's Eve. A neat wheeze.
- Richard Moseley is looking to find which UK rowing club has the smallest amount of water to row on. Suggestions directly to Richard, please.
Tuesday 20th December 2005
- No website yet, but a contact email for the 7-year-old Aberdyfi Rowing Club (Wales, UK), doing sea-rowing in Yoles and Celtic longboats on the Dyfi Estuary.
- Scottish athletes aiming to be selected for the 2006 Commonwealth Regatta and/or senior Home International teams need to register by January 1st 2006. The registration form can be downloaded from the SARA website and either emailed (to men's coordinator Tom Baker or women's coordinator Ian Hunter) or posted to team manager Gary Bain. Addresses all on the webpage.
- London Rowing Club's website (UK) has had a (rather pretty) revamp in honour of its 150th birthday (the club, not the website). Nice work.
- The Agecroft Triathlon (UK) will be held on Sunday January 22nd - erg/cycle/run, enter single events as part of a team or all three. See the Agecroft website for entry forms. It also has some great pictures of Santas rowing, and the picture of 180 Santas on the clubhouse balcony is here.
- Mortlake Anglian & Alpha BC (UK) have updated their tide tables to include 2006. An excellent service to Tideway users.
- Details of Quintin Head (UK) which will be run on 28th January. Entry info etc. on the link. And yes, they do have PLA clearance....
- The North-East Community Sports Coach post (UK) has been readvertised. The details and job description (both MS Word format) are on the NE Rowing website. Closing date 30th December 2005.
Monday 19th December 2005
- Message from the editor: - "A plea for help. I lost my sunglasses on Saturday, while in Boston (Lincs, UK) for the GB trials. I definitely lost them between the heavyweights' division and when the lightweights boated for their div. Probably dropped near Boston RC boathouse, possibly between the clubhouse and the road. I didn't wander far during that period and I searched the whole area really carefully, particularly a bit very near the road where my cap briefly flipped off in the merciless wind at about noon. That's when I think they probably dropped, though I didn't realise until later. No sign of them. So if any GB senior triallist miraculously got a new pair of shades on Saturday, plain black rimless Maui Jims, please let me know. Let's face it, a thieving sod of a triallist who didn't hand them in to Boston RC doesn't deserve to keep them, and I might be persuaded to find a monetary reward for their return. Any help appreciated, RQ."
- And links to the openweight and lightweight trials results (UK) for those more interested in stats than my loss!
- New for Christmas, "DUBC Stripped 2006". Durham University (UK), who "have decided that if any university boat club should be getting naked" it's them, have produced a bottoms-up calendar which "is tasteful with a few entertaining shots but nothing you couldn't show your grandmother on Christmas Day". Ho ho ho.
Friday 16th December 2005
- Late update: Reports on the Oxford and Cambridge from a guest Rowing Service correspondent (UK).
- FISA are having another go at encouraging athletes/NFs to update their data on the RowingOne biographical database. If you want to update, click the button and follow instructions - you'll need to prove your identity. National Federations and clubs should email Maurice Paschoud to get a password for the update. In several cases there are blatant mistakes/duplications, or old pictures, and the information is incomplete before the more recent years, presumably because it was imported from the FISA online results system which doesn't have everything from the pre-internet years.
- FISA have also now published their Minimum Guidelines for Safe Rowing. It's a pretty comprehensive document, discussing everything from cold shock to hyperthermia (and hypothermia), equipment to safe coaching.
- FISA's circular also formally announces the end of the BearingPoint sponsorship, the branding for which mysteriously disappeared from the FISA website a short while ago. A bit mean of BgPt to pull out so suddenly, methinks. Anyone know a generous company out there willing to spend a few million on rowing in return for publicity?
- Details of most of the Henley Boat Races trial eights (UK). OUWBC don't do public trials races at this time of year.
- Details of the 2006 FISA rowing tour are online.
Thursday 15th December 2005
- Grosvenor Rowing Club are having a sherry party on 18th December.
Wednesday 14th December 2005
- Poster and entry details of Durham Small Boats Head are on the Durham ARC website (UK).
Monday 12th December 2005
- This website has historical shots of rowing on the Harlem River in New York City (USA).
- A UK plea: "Sculling Riggers Lost at WCS Camp, Holme Pierpoint, Nottingham, last weekend, 3-4th Dec. If any club who attended the camp accidentially found
that they had picked up an extra set of riggers (Neaves sculling riggers labled HWT 2) please could they contact me, Chris Callow, Star Club, Bedford via email on chris_callow83@hotmail.com".
Friday 9th December 2005
- A website for the Maharashtra Rowing Association, a regional association. (Guys, if you're reading this, please attribute your use of Ewoud Dronkert's animated gif on your splash page, will you?) There's a good history page on the site, and useful links to India boat clubs and athletics associations, though the news/results is out of date.
- Running at Magdalen College Oxford (UK) on Wednesday 25th January 2006, "Weight training for club level athletes", part of the Thames seminar series. A PDF poster can be downloaded from the TRRC website.
- Also on the TRRC site (UK), details of the Coaching Essentials and Running Sport courses run by non-rowing bodies.
- It's mentioned in the BBC Sports Coach UK piece from Wednesday that Ron Needs (one of the GBR W8+ coaches) won a Mussabini medal for success on the world stage. Congratulations Ron!
Thursday 8th December 2005
- UK - urgent - The news about the World Class Start coach vacancy as advertised on the ARA website (UK) is apparently suffering from not getting out to as many people as was intended. The closing date (next Monday) remains set - those interested please contact Peter Shakespear in the next couple of days to register your interest. Spread the word.
- Henley Royal Regatta news from yesterday's Stewards' Meeting. Imperial College have donated a trophy for the Men's Student Coxed Fours, now to be named the Prince Albert Challenge Cup (after Queen V's husband, who was the first royal patron of the regatta). The rules regarding Olympic qualifiers have been slightly relaxed, to allow those who take part in continental qualifying regattas (eg Asian, African or South American) but NOT the Final Qualifying Regatta in Lucerne, to compete in the low-status events such as the Thames, Wyfold, Brit, Prince Albert and Temple Cups. The rules regarding the powers of the Stewards and race officials have been clarified - no details yet, presumably it means they can crack down harder on miscreants. Oh, and the Stewards' Charitable Trust disbursed £130,000 to a variety of rowing projects. Full details on the press page of the regatta website (UK).
- Clyde Rowing Club (Scotland) is holding a Festive Paddle and boat-naming on 27th December at 11am.
- NLRoei (Netherlands) has pictures of the European Open Indoor Champs, together with a report (in Dutch). The gallery includes a snap of the lesser spotted erging Sybrand, the photographer more usually at the other end of the camera for once being a victim. I notice he doesn't let us see his erging technique.....
- NLRoei also has an article about a rival to Redgrave's 'Liverpool 8' - if you don't want to read it in Dutch, use use Babelfish to get a crude translation into another language.
- Rowing hits the bright lights Down Under - the dramatic story of Sally Robbins's experiences in Athens is being used as theatre material. See Lay down Sally, the stage play (The Australian) and Robbins rows onto the stage (ABC Australia). The drama company is basing the script on comments made publicly by the crew and press, but I wonder if they aren't being a bit brave given that Robbins is going back to rowing and may feel she has a reputation to defend (as will others portrayed in the play).
Wednesday 7th December 2005
- London Tideway users see the Tideway Slug for a notice about the Allom Cup collegiate UL regatta on Saturday December 10th (UK). And a notice about the Putney Town RC steps. And pix of the Fours Head winners' party.
- From a while back on the FISA website, Dutch 'hell' doesn't hinder rowing duel and Rowing shapes up for Beijing - the latter a report from FISA Director Matt Smith on how China's preparations for 2008 are coming along. Note that the Chinese national team is 'confident about producing a strong men's eight' for the Beijing Olympics.
- Junior results for the NE Indoor Champs (UK) have been added as well.
Tuesday 6th December 2005
- The demolition and redevelopment of the Yarra Yarra RC boathouse (Melbourne, Australia) is nearing its conclusion. A formal opening will be held on Sunday 11th December at 11am with the honours done by rowing legend James Tomkins. See the press release (MS Word format) for more details.
- The DVD of the 2005 Trafalgar Great River Race (UK) is now available. A trailer with a suitably inspiring soundtrack can be downloaded from the race homepage if you want a preview before ordering.
- John Gearing has written a report (Word format) and sent me two race pictures (here and here) about the RSA Schools Boatrace mentioned yesterday (South Africa).
- The full AGM minutes are now up for the recent Thames Regional Rowing Council meeting (UK). Also nominations are open for the 2006 London Sports Awards.
- A website for the University of Kent RC (UK), with a simple but elegantly functional design (both visual and HTML).
- Rowing Canada Aviron announce their annual awards and also (not yet on the website) that Marnie McBean is joining the organisation as VP in charge of Marketing. There's a newspaper version of the press release in the Brandon Sun (Canada).
- Results of the North East Indoor Rowing Championship (UK) are online.
- Results of the Wycliffe Small Boats Head (UK) are also online.
Monday 5th December 2005
- Tetsushi Ozawa has translated the Blockleys' Cold Water Survival Document into Japanese - follow this link for downloadable PDF or Word options. Any other translators think they're up to the task?
- Results of Rutherford Head (UK) are online.
- And of Wallingford Head (UK).
- I'm told by a regular RSA correspondent that this weekend St. Andrew's made a clean sweep of the South African Schools' Boatrace on the Kowie River at Port Alfred (RSA). St. Andrew's College (Grahamstown) beat Cape Town's Bishops in the boys' race. St. Andrew's School for Girls beat Holy Rosary (both Johannesburg) in the girl's final. Thanks JH.
- CRC Sculling Camps have produced a DVD on Effective Sculling Technique, with FISA support. It features Tufete, Rutschow-Stomporowski, Romero and others. A chunk of the profit from each DVD goes to supporting the FISA Development Programme, especially to women's rowing in developing nations. Buy from RowPerfect UK, New Wave in Europe and RegattaSport in North America.
- Trials races for the OU lightweight men and CU women/lightweight men have been arranged for 11th and 16th December. Trials races for the OU and CU men are 13th and 14th December respectively (all UK).
- Things still progressing slowly in the Atlantic Rowing Race, with two of the fours in the lead - it helps to have more pairs of hands to row with when there's little in the way of a following wind. The two solo rowers are still bottom, for similar reasons, though Roz Savage is just ahead of Molesey boy Chris Martin, which must be galling. Particularly as the ARR website reports he's doing 90 mins on, 10 mins off for as long as he can at the moment. The BYM News website carries regular reports/press releases - anything starting "At sea Atlantic Challenge:" or "Atlantic Rowing Race" is on the ARR subject.
- A very short snippet in the Cincinnati Post (USA) suggests the women's rowing team of the University of Cincinnati has filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the University in the federal court. Ho hum.
Thursday 1st December 2005
- Two of Canada's adaptive rowing programmes have been given community volunteer awards.
- The World Coastal Rowing Championships 2006 date/place have been set as 2nd-3rd September, in Guernsey (Channel Islands).
- Rutherford Head (UK) boating instructions (Word format) are online.
