============================================================ INDOOR ROWING NEWSLETTER #51 ======================= 11-January-2002 ======================= _________________________________________________ C O N T E N T S 1. Fastest Man Alive 2. Indoor Rowing Grand Prix 3. 2002 World Indoor Rowing Championship 4. PPP healthcare National Marathon Day 5. GMTV: Inch Loss Island 6. Tel's Tales 7. Concept Ranking 8. Charity Rows 9. Group Rowing 10. Christmas Competition Winners 11. Forthcoming Events **************************** Feedback Back Issues Subscription Information ________________________________________________________________ ========================================================= Fastest Man Alive ========================================================= For the past four years The Man in indoor rowing has been New Zealander Rob Waddell. Ever since taking two tenths of a second off Teutonic giant Matthias Siejkowski's old world record of 5:39.7at the 1998 World Indoor Rowing Championship, Rob's been out on his own; he set a time of 5:38.3 at the beginning of 1999 which nobody else has come close to. Until now, that is. Racing at the Polish IRC in Warsaw last month, Siejkowski, now 34 years old, dramatically snatched back the crown of world's fastest. Matthias, whose father is Polish and who was born there, celebrated his homecoming by pulling out of his skin. In front of a large crowd, he took 2.1 seconds of his own personal best to finish amidst scenes of jubilation in 5:37.0. "After the race I was so happy, you can't imagine. I was dancing and kissing everybody." To put this in perspective, this means he was a full ten and a half seconds quicker than Matthew Pinsent's winning time at last November's British Indoor Rowing Championship. Despite the fact he's been the indoor rowing world champion seven times over, Matthias went in to the race with more than his fair share of butterflies. "I read an old East German book about sport psychology before and in the course of the competition. It was a great help, because I am very sensitive and my nerves are not very strong... It is important to know, how to defeat your own weakness. It was a race against myself. Not against other competitors." In a couple of weeks time, he'll be going head-to-head at the Wroclaw IRC in Poland with Belarus' Pavel Chourmei, who finished an incredibly narrow second to him at last year's World IRC; chances are, the record hasn't stopped falling yet... At the other end of the record spectrum, Canterbury's Jessie Welsh has shaved 1.2 seconds of her existing 80-89 Lwt record, to set a new time of 10:04.3. According to her husband Harry, "She was completely unaware that she had done so. When I told her, it was like a pantomime exchange. 'Oh no I haven't.' 'Oh yes you have.' Oh no I haven't.' 'Oh yes you have.'" Full World and British and Irish records for all age categories and distances can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/brit_world_records.htm ========================================================= Indoor Rowing Grand Prix ========================================================= The East Midlands IRC, the second race in the inaugural Indoor Rowing Grand Prix, takes place this Sunday at Nottingham University. What with it only being down the road from Indoor Rowing Towers, we'll be posting full results up on the Grand Prix web site (http://www.concept2.co.uk/gp) on Monday. For those of you coming in late, or whose memory skills have been destroyed by Christmas sherry, the IRGP is the somewhat ugly acronym that brings together the four biggest British regional races. Although you can still enter them as individual races, if you finish in the top ten you'll receive points to go towards an overall Grand Prix standing. At the end of the series, the people with the highest aggregate score will receive medals, certificates and the thanks of a grateful nation. There are four races in this year's circuit, although more may be added in future years. Eventually the plan is for a global event to dwarf the Olympics, so if you get involved early you'll have a cool story for your grandchildren's grandchildren to brag about in an Internet chat room. After the East Midlands IRC, the next event is the North of England IRC on Saturday, February 2nd. The North of England is the biggest race in the country after the British championship, and the move to the Manchester Velodrome means that they expect to get well over a thousand competitors. The deadline for entry is January 17th so make sure you don't miss out. Entry forms can be downloaded from http://www.concept2.co.uk/gp or by contacting the race organisers on 01706 350504 or mrmatt103@hotmail.com ========================================================= 2002 World Indoor Rowing Championship ========================================================= Sweet baby Moses is it time to talk about the World Indoor Rowing Championships again? It seems like only almost a year ago that we were telling tales around the campfire about the return of the victorious British team with 20 medals of various hues, of the epic dust-up between Matthias Siejkowski (GER) and Pavel Chourmei (BEL) for the Men's Open, and the emergence of a new star in the shape of Hurnet Dekkers (NED) in the Women's Open. This year's championship takes place on February 24th, again at the Reggie Lewis Track and Field Center in Boston. The deadline for competitors is January 23rd, so if you want to come this year, make sure you go to http://www.concept2.co.uk/wirc to download an entry form and send it in to us. The championships are open to anyone of any standard, and PPP healthcare have once again come on board as official team sponsors, meaning that everybody who goes will be kitted out in some spiffing and exclusive clobber. ========================================================= PPP healthcare National Marathon Day ========================================================= New for 2002 is the first National Marathon Day. Taking place on April 14th, the same day as the Flora London Marathon, we're encouraging as many people as possible to have a crack at either the 42,195 metre marathon or its half-brother the 21,098 metre distance. More information and training programmes can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/marathon.htm. The distance is obviously a bit of a doozy, and for many of you it's going to be further than you've ever tried before in a single session. In order to help you do as well as possible, we plan to add as wide a range of tips and advice on how to crack it. What we want then, is for any old hands at long distance rows to send us in your advice on what helped you through. Alternatively, if you're daunted by the task ahead, send your fears and questions in to us and we'll find an expert to answer them. As usual, the address is webmaster@concept2.co.uk. ========================================================= GMTV: Inch Loss Island ========================================================= Next week seeks our latest effort to win a BAFTA during Inch Loss Island, a new GMTV strand transmitted live all next week. The strand features fitness writer Nicki Waterman and various other experts attempting, in their somewhat sinister words, to 're-programme' five over weight viewers about their diet and fitness. The Indoor Rower will be one of the pieces of fitness equipment shown and, with any luck, we'll be able to blag Lorraine Kelly's autograph. ========================================================= Tel's Tales ========================================================= Three times Olympic rowing coach Terry O'Neill has spent the past twenty years being force fed everything there is to know about training, rowing and exercise. If you'd like to nibble on his distended liver of knowledge, send an e-mail to tels-tales@concept2.co.uk. ========================================================= Concept Ranking ========================================================= The deadline for this year's Concept Ranking is miles away at the moment but we thought we'd give you all an early shot across the bows. Due to the PPP healthcare National Marathon Day (see above), there's now a new individual event in the shape of the 21,098 metre half-marathon. This now means there are five categories (2,000, 5,000, 10,000 metres, half marathon and marathon) for you to set your cap at, so if you want to achieve a full house, you might need to start thinking about it now. The deadline for entry this year is April 30th and the official ranking entry form can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/ranking.htm. Remember, you can also enter your times on the On-Line World Ranking at http://rowing.concept2.com/sranking/rankings.asp and they'll be automatically transferred across to the printed version. ========================================================= Charity Rows ========================================================= They say charity begins at home. Not for the first time, of course, They are wrong. As everybody should know by now, charity actually begins in the gym, and several people have been busy using the Indoor Rower to raise much-needed funds. The STS 2 Weapons & Ground Support Equipment team of Royal Air Force Wyton recently undertook a challenge to row continuously for 24 hours in half hour relay legs. For a number of years now they've supported the Childhood Organisation for Parent And Relative Support (COPARS), a local charity situated at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. The objective of COPARS is not only to help children who suffer from cancer, but also to provide essential support to their families. Eighteen people completed a total distance of 347,230 metres with an estimated 1,250 pounds raised for COPARS. Meanwhile, at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, stroke specialist nurse Liz Jones has been doing her bit as well. "I started trying to get fit in the spring after a bit of a mid-life crisis on reaching 40! I joined a gym - and when I was working out on a rowing machine had a bright idea - inspired by watching the stroke meter on the machine. I thought it would be interesting if we had a meter that showed how many people in North Derbyshire had a stroke every day." The idea grew - and Liz opted to tie it in with Stroke Awareness week as the theme was 'Let's get Physical.' Staff caring for stroke patients got together as a team and decided to see how far they could row in the main concourse during their lunch hour. All in all the team rowed 12.25 kilometres, raising not only 210 pounds, but also awareness about strokes and the importance of physical exercise. If you've been involved in a charity rowing event, then make sure you send in your report to webmaster@concept2.co.uk. ========================================================= Group Rowing ========================================================= Simon Larkin, part of Concept 2's Education Team, has the following plea for all gyms out there: "Recently we have been getting requests from the public as to where they can take part in Crew Class sessions (Crew Class is any instructor led group rowing session). If you are running sessions or taking part in them let us know who you are, where they are held and when they are run. We'll create a list of places on our web site where Crew Class sessions are taking place, and will pass your details on to anyone requesting Crew Class information in the future. At the moment we are especially looking for anyone running sessions in South Yorkshire or Lincolnshire." Send your details to webmaster@concept2.co.uk ========================================================= Christmas Competition ========================================================= Way back in dark and distant 2001, we ran a competition giving away 15 Steve Redgrave signed Putney Town Rowing Club nuddy rowing calendars. To enter, all you had to do was send us a Christmas card. The following people can all call themselves winners on their passport: David Wright, Bedlington Debbie McGreevy, Peversey Kay Hughes, Portsmouth Migs Ferguson, Stafford Michelle Ball, Bexhill-on-Sea Chris and Sue Sherrin, Waterlooville Esta Wilkin, Dorset Philip Brunquell, Connecticut, USA Rumi Kidwai, London Lorraine Thomas, Cheltenham Sandra France, Leicester Kevin Earles, Sunderland Mike James David Hislop Steven Durue For more about the calendar, go to http://www.crewwear.co.uk ========================================================= Forthcoming Races and Events ========================================================= If you've got an event you'd like adding to the Event Calendar (http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/calendar.htm) then e-mail webmaster@concept2.co.uk Name: East Midlands IRC Date: 13/01/02 Location: Nottingham University Distance: 2,000 metres Organiser: Nigel Mayglothling Contact: T: 0115 951 5519 E: nigel.mayglothling@nottingam.ac.uk Other: Race 2 in the Indoor Rowing Grand Prix (http://www.concept2.co.uk/gp) Name: North of England IRC Date: 02/02/02 Location: Manchester Velodrome Distance: 2,000 metres Organiser: Matt Rostron Contact: T: 01706 350504 E: mrmatt103@hotmail.com Other: Race 3 in the Indoor Rowing Grand Prix (http://www.concept2.co.uk/gp) and the biggest race in the country after the British IRC. Deadline for entry is 19th January. Name: Sheffield IRC Date: 10/02/02 Location: Sheffield Hallam University Distance: 2,000 metres Organiser: Danny Porter Contact: T: 0114 2532140 E: dporter@shu.ac.uk Name: World IRC Date: 24/02/02 Location: Boston, USA Distance: 2,000 metres Organiser: Concept 2 Contact: T: 0115 945 5522 E: info@concept2.co.uk Other: http://www.concept2.co.uk/wirc Name: Welsh IRC Date: 02/03/02 Location: David Lloyd Centre, Cardiff Distance: 2,000 metres Organiser: Michael Hnatiw Contact: T: 029 2021 0233 (home) 029 2078 8146 (work) E: michael.hnatiw@ntlworld.com Other: Final race in the Indoor Rowing Grand Prix. Name: Cornish IRC Date: 10/03/02 Location: Phoenix Leisure Centre, Launceston Distance: 2,000 metres Organiser: Martin Williams Contact: T: 01566 772551 E: phoenix@ncdc.gov.uk Other: Entry Form available on-line at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/calendar.htm ______________________________________________________FEEDBACK Like what you read? Dislike what you read? Ideas for future newsletters? Spotted a really silly error that would have been picked up by an eight year old pruf-reader? Make sure to tell us at webmaster@concept2.co.uk. Or, of course, you could always say something at our message board: http://www.concept2.co.uk/messageboard.htm. Oh go on. _____________________________________________________BACK ISSUES Revisit past glories by going to http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/newsletter_index.php3 and checking out back issues of the Indoor Rowing News. New issues are posted on the release date of the following newsletter. _______________________________________________SUBSCRIPTION INFO "I tire of your words": Reply with "unsubscribe" as the header. "Just the one thank you very much": Reply with "multiple" as the header.