Tom competes in Virtual British Rowing Championships

When lockdown started and thoughts turned to keeping fit, my family pulled out an old rowing machine from it's slumber in the garage, where it had been gathering dust for years, neglected and forgotten.... Some old family friends had suggested joining their rowing quest, to row from Hastings to Le Havre and back, and so it started. I had never used a rowing machine before, but it seemed like a good way to keep fit, so off we set to row 20,000m per week. As the weeks went by and the distances increased, our times came down, fitness improved, and we decided to enter the first British Rowing Virtual Championships. When the draw came through, it was evident that there would be some serious competition; everyone seemed to belong to a rowing club! Undeterred, we had a go and it was a brilliant event, our rowers were linked up electronically to the organiser's, so the races appeared on screen in real time with live commentary. In the Year 10 Boys events, after narrowly missing the cut for the A final (top 20 rowers), I qualified for the B final in both the 5 minute row and the 500m sprint, and ultimately finished 20th and 27th for the competition overall. The organisation was fantastic. There is more information about future indoor rowing events and live footage on the British Rowing website.

Tom Kerley 10E