As one of the top rowing competitions in the world, it is not surprising that the Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) is on the forefront of adapting to the COVID world. Instead of cancelling this event this year, they turned it in to a virtual event in a number of innovative ways.
Concept2 and others have held virtual regattas where people essentially row their piece over a certain period and then send in their results. HOCR offered that format, but also add two others. One was a “Water” competition where people sent in the individually recorded piece times over the specified distance where they lived/rowed. The other was a “Live” competition where an app integrated into the rowing machine fed live updates of the competitors which was steamed (the video of which can be watched again on the YouTube recording with the para starting at 1:30.0).
The UK represented Europe in the international contingent of pararowers (Australian club Balmain also participated strongly). Congrats to both UK competitors won their events:
- Women’s PR2 Participatory Live – Sophie Brown, Sudbury
- Men’s PR3 Participatory Live – Ben Marsden, Marlow
A whole new 2020 meaning to “rowing with the stream””.