Onto the nation's TV screens tonight will go the most realistic documentary about novice rowing ever to be filmed in the UK. 6:05pm, "The Other Boat Race". Yes, it's some nonsense about a "celebrity" shindig, no, they aren't really celebrities, yes it's only 55 minutes long and won't show half of what it needs to, but it is still a really important event for our sport.
The reason is that it shows a bunch of people who really can't row to start with, not only picking up the basics in a relatively short time, but (mostly) getting really enthusiastic about it.
The coaching varies in approach, but what unites Tim Foster, Gillian Lindsay, Martin Cross and Greg Searle is that they all know how to truly move boats, win races and are passionate about rowing. Whether you believe in getting new rowers out in sculls, making them row with more experienced people, or throwing them straight into novice coxed fours, there is a little bit of everything in "The Other Boat Race", and all of it - to a greater or lesser degree - works.
And then there's the race. Even with 3 experienced rowers (well 4, for Cambridge) in each boat, it was a gamble taken by the producers that the crews would be able to cope with Tideway waters enough to race properly from Putney to Hammersmith, after only 6 weeks wildly intermittent training. Instead, it worked perfectly - the clash which has been trailed as a pivotal moment in the race was more a result of understandable over-aggression than of novicey inexperience.
If you factor in the training build-up programmes which have been shown on BBC3 and will continue to be repeated next week (a couple in the early hours of the morning may also make it to terrestrial TV on overnight BBC1 or 2), it all adds up to a fantastic advert for a sport which, despite plenty of input into Project Oarsome and junior rowing, can find it hard to raise money and recruit interest amongst adult rowers.
Clubs can miss tricks. There is a severe lack of willingness to find a way to let people with minimal time join our sport as recreational rowers. What a miscalculation - they could be the very aficionados who with a little encouragement become fund-raisers, regatta volunteers or otherwise Helpful Bods, all because they've been helped to have a few enjoyable paddles on the river one summer day.
Rowing "for fun" is a heresy in many quarters, and that is what stops our sport, technical as it is, becoming as popular as others. You can cycle for fun, run for fun, mountain-climb, dive and ski for fun. Many of these sports are as dangerous, expensive and complex as rowing, and they also know you have to train hard to compete at the highest level. Where they differ is in finding ways for recreational sportsmen and women to join the clubs under different rules, and to enjoy the sport for what it is without the pressure of competition.
When asked by the Oxford "TOBR" crew to find them somewhere to have a few outings, I had to think very carefully. Too many otherwise entirely worthy clubs are way too touchy about recreational rowing. The chance of a couple of these new rowers eventually becoming competitive members is quite high: and their friends who do not will come down, drink the bar dry, support their mates and perhaps donate cash.
I hope the soon-to-be finalised competition review will go some way towards encouraging us to rethink how we attract members. Recreational rowers need not bleed clubs dry, tie up equipment or complicate outings, as long as you plan properly and with a realistic admission of what everyone wants.
I expect "The Other Boat Race" to ignite the spark of enthusiasm for base-level rowing right around Britain. If your club hasn't already taken out a large advert in the local newspaper for next week, and planned extra post-Easter taster rowing sessions for complete novices, get onto it now. You have an unbeatable opportunity to change the way the rest of the country sees our sport, and you may not get this chance again.
Rachel Quarrell, Editor, The Rowing Service.