The Rowing Briefing – 15th March 2021

Welcome to the rowing world’s only regular news briefing. On this page you’ll find the latest rowing news from both the UK, as well as the rest of the globe. To receive an audio briefing with these stories and more at the start of each week, sign up to Updates. If you have a story to share, contact our news desk – juniorrowingnews@gmail.com.

Domestic Rowing:

“Our core principle is giving young rowers a chance to talk about our sport on their own terms.”

Tom Morgan, JRN Press Release

It’s a new week, and with it comes new controversy. Following continued debate over the weekend, demonstrators clashed with the Met Police at a vigil held for Sarah Everard on Saturday evening. Met Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick faced calls to resign, whilst the official word suggested that the police were forced to intervene because of the ‘overriding need to protect people’s safety.’ In the rowing world, there is less controversy as British Rowing and JRN announce a partnership, new state school rowing grants begin, and revised Rules of Racing for 2021 come into force.

With little racing so far this year to consider, the annual revisions to British Rowing’s Rules of Racing have been minimal. Clarifications around language use, alongside slight alterations to the aspects of boat superstructure that Control Commission may check prior to boating. The latest version of Rules of Racing can be found here.

UK Sport, meanwhile, is urging all sportspeople in the UK to take part in their Return to Major Sports Events 2021 Survey. In a press release, UK Sport said,

‘As we all continue to play our part in preventing the spread of the virus, UK Sport would like to hear your thoughts on the current situation and understand how you, as fans, feel about attending major sports events again in the future. We would be grateful if you would spare a few minutes to complete a short online survey.’

To assist in the re-opening of state school rowing clubs, British Rowing will provide grants to those most impacted by Covid-19. Full details of who can apply and how to do so can be found here. The application deadline will close on the 22nd March.

British Rowing and JRN have announced a new partnership to empower the voices of young rowers in our community. JRN’s founder and Publisher, Tom Morgan, commented, ‘Our core principle is giving young rowers a chance to talk about our sport on their own terms. This partnership with British Rowing allows our team to showcase their skill and knowledge to a national audience, which we are delighted about.’ The first of our articles for British Rowing can be found on British Rowing Plus.

International Rowing:

“One area of weakness in terms of gender equality is the number of female coaches at the national and international level. This is recognised and strategies are in process to deal with this.”

World Rowing

Monday was International Women’s Day, and like so many governing bodies, World Rowing took the opportunity to highlight women in rowing and the struggles they face – along with their inspiring legacy. You can read their discussion of the topic here, along with our look at the leading lights of women’s rowing, and our podcast episode of women’s health in sport.


his article supplements our Weekly Briefing that you can have delivered to your WhatsApp inbox at the start of each week. To find out more and sign up, head over to Updates.

If you’re hungry for more, check out any of our other pieces from The Catch, listen to our latest podcast episode, or flick through our race previews.

For all the best rowing news, keep up with JRN on InstagramTwitter and Facebook.

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