WRC in Lockdown
Like all other rowers, if you’d have told us in February, that we would have to close our club and not be able to row or train together for… well who knows? Two months and counting! Not only would we have not believed you, but we’d have all gone into a more than mild panic!
However, on 18th March 2020 we did indeed close our doors until further notice.
But rather than sit back and lick our wounds (and ever decreasing callouses) we sprung into virtual action!
One of the things that makes rowing so very special is the community spirit and working together as a crew, squad and club. We know how important that is for our members, so we worked hard to maintain this as much as we could during Lockdown.
Thanks to the work of many of our volunteers, we have been able to offer our members a range of regular virtual club wide events including:
- Monday mornings – Online erg session
- Tuesday evenings – Online Circuits Session with yoga
- Thursday evenings – Online Cardio Session
- Saturday mornings – Online Mega Rowing Community Tabata Session with yoga (this started as a members’ session, but we opened it up to other rowing clubs too and regularly welcome 50 people from around 8 different rowing clubs!)
- After training snacks and chats as always!
In addition to these regular slots, we also have:
- Bank Holiday Workout Sessions
- Pop up sessions
- Online Safeguarding courses for our coaches and committee
- Our virtual combined row / run / cycle across Europe (which we think may have to extend outside Europe at the rate we are going!). This is a fundraiser for three amazing charities – NHS Charities Together, St Rocco’s Hospice, Citizens Advice plus our community club.
- The Row Inn pub quiz – lots of fun, nothing high brow. Bring your own drinks and snacks!
- Our monthly 2D committee meetings!
- Joined in other events such as the Four Nations One Minute Challenge, Tees Virtual Regatta, Liv Vics Quiz, the 2.6 challenge – and many more!
Not to mention the huge amount of training our members have been doing in preparation for the glorious day when we will be allowed to safely get back on the water, and maybe even race again one day!
Huge thanks to all those who’ve supported the various sessions and initiatives and to our members for keeping engaged during this challenging time.
When life is challenging, it’s more important than ever to keep coming together, to train, to support, to connect.