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British Rowing Indoor Championships 2020

Senior School Junior School


Well done Alistair! Great results and progress on this new sporting adventure.

Alistair was able to compete recently in the British Rowing Indoor Championships from home. He came 12th nationally for the Year 9 boys in the 4 minute race, rowing 1036 metres, and 18th in the 500m race. Alistair is new to the sport and has continued his competitive rowing from lockdown. Ordinarily, the Championships take place at the Lee Valley Velo Park in London, and attracts rowers from all over the world.  However, everything moved online, and the rowing machine at home was linked into race control for the two events. All competitors rowed against each other in real time, as instructions were relayed through to each rowing machine. There were visuals of the virtual boat races livestreamed via the British Rowing website, with commentary and this meant that Alistair could see his race position at all times and apply race tactics against those close to him. 

Alistair competed in the two races for his Year Group, a 4 minute row to compete for the longest distance achieved, and a 500m race. All other competitors were members of boat clubs, or schools with boat clubs. Alistair’s rowing technique training has been gained from YouTube and the rowing machine has now moved indoors to the dining room from the garage for a warmer training environment for the winter months!

Being able to see how the other competitors were doing enabled Alistair to use his stamina and strength to maintain his stroke rate throughout the race and finish strongly. Alistair was really pleased with his performance as he continues to improve his technique and use his height to his advantage.  He’s now a British Rowing member and looking out for the next online competitions as Covid means that all racing continues is done remotely.

His race results, pace and stroke data are online at:



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