It could not have been a lovelier day to be at waterside in Strathclyde Park so, for all that it generated something of a non sequitur, it would have been just plain wrong to have stayed indoors to take the photos to accompany this piece launching the Scottish Indoor Rowing Championship.
We all know, after all, that such perfect conditions for messing about on the water are all too rare hereabouts which is why it is often best for even those engaged in outdoor pursuits to do as much training and preparation as possible with a roof over their heads.
Following last year’s successful introduction of a schools competition alongside the national championships, Scottish Rowing are consequently looking to take the event to another level with a new venue this year, in moving from Scotstoun to Bellahouston Sports Centre.
The scale of its promotion reflects a growing awareness within the sport that, in bidding to change its elitist image, the ready availability of indoor rowing machines or ergometers is ideal for that purpose.
Few are more aware of that than Sophie Warburton, one of the governing body’s rowing development managers, who got her first taste of the sport on an ergo.
“When I was at High School I used to go on the rowing machines quite a lot and quite enjoyed it which prompted me to join my University rowing club when I started there,” explained the 28-year-old.
That is by no means untypical with a high percentage of participants only taking to the water at University and for all that the message is that newcomers are welcomed to clubs at a much earlier age, the reality is that it is easier to learn much of the technique safely on dry land.
Warburton’s schooldays were spent in Norfolk where machines were available on the school premises and part of her task is now to demonstrate just how easy it is to give youngsters – many of whom prefer sports where they can work at their own pace and set their own targets rather than traditional team sports – the chance to get involved.
“Most schools have access to at least one rowing machine, maybe a couple, so we’re trying to work on increasing that, increasing the facilities so that they’ve got a couple that are in good working order,” she said.
“If they don’t then we're trying to create links with the community and the school so they can borrow the machines, or pointing them in the direction of funding so that they can access to the equipment as well.
“It’s so simple to get into. All you need is a rowing machine. It’s not a particularly big piece of equipment and they break in half so they’re not difficult to store. You can literally put one anywhere.”
For all that the national championships will identify the best – at a time when, in the post Olympic and Commonwealth Games era, the Westminster government is belatedly realising that providing opportunity to the many is a far better way of identifying talent than honing a select few – Warburton has a refreshing understanding of her priorities.
“We want to increase rowing across all levels, so just getting more people into rowing, both indoors and on the water, creating that link between the indoors and the water is really important,” she said.
“If we find talent that’s fantastic, but we’re more likely to find it if we increase the pool of people taking part.
“Competition and determination breeds more competition and determination, so if you’re a competitive person you need to have somebody that’s at a similar level that you can compete against as that bench-mark and you can then push yourself that little bit harder.
“We want to be able to create that level of competition at all levels, so if we’ve got somebody who’s just saying they want to do it recreationally and do the odd race as a little bit of fun, we’ve got the opportunity for them to be able to do that as well as people that are trying to get on an Olympic pathway.”
Indoor rowing is an established and useful training aid for most sports, providing the fullest of workouts as demonstrated by a selection of Glasgow Warrior rugby players who were on hand at Scottish Rowing's HQ to help with the launch.
“We get quite a lot of talent transfer, at the performance level but also at participation level we get a lot of people that get injured doing other sports then coming to rowing because it’s less impact on the joints. It’s a sport you can get into older,” said Warburton.
The National Indoor Rowing Championships will take place on November 20 and 21 and are open to all-comers. Details of how to enter can be found on the Scottish Rowing website.
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