- “Hearing from two neurodivergent rowers was eye-opening for me and the highlight of my day.” – coach from Nottingham sharing his top takeaway in the final plenary session
British Rowing held its annual Coaching Conference this past weekend at the University of Birmingham with a big focus on inclusion which meant a number of big presentations on adaptive rowing. The slides for the presentations are shared in the links here:
- “British Rowing Coaches Conference – Coaching Adaptive Rowers”: Bruce Lynn provided an overview of the adaptive rowing world with a core message of how straightforward welcoming adaptives can be.
- “British Rowing Coaches Conference – Just Start With One poster”: Bruce Lynn shared the myths ad realities of adaptive rowing.
- “Caragh McMurtry Rose Sargent Neuroinclusive Coaching”: Caragh McMurty (GB Paralympian) and Rose Sargent (Neurodiversity working group lead) shared their personal perspectives on rowing with neurodiversity with a core message of coaching with individual consideration.
The first day concluded with a dinner which honored exceptional coaches from the past year several of which made huge contributions in the adaptive rowing world:
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Inclusive Coach of the Year: Peter Forrest, Peterborough City Rowing Club – Pete is Lead Coach and organiser of ‘Row the Rhythm’, an exciting new initiative that enables people who are blind or visually impaired to access the sport of rowing both on and off the water. After a few pilot sessions in 2023 the programme has grown so that throughout 2024 Pete brings together and leads a team of British Rowing qualified coaches and assistants who enable 10 or more athletes to enjoy one-to-one coaching. These sessions have allowed the rowers to feel a sense of freedom and independence, which through sight loss, they do not freely experience in their daily life. Pete has pioneered a unique way of guiding, communicating and coaching a blind single sculler, using mobile technology and Bluetooth headsets, and has also been instrumental in promoting inclusive rowing in the media. |
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Volunteer of the Year – West Midlands Region: Sally Pettipher, Ross Rowing Club: Sally’s leadership has been central to the resounding success of the Mixed Ability Rowing Session (MARS) programme at Ross Rowing Club. A year on since it was launched, this adaptive/mixed-ability squad has 44 people on the register, through exemplary outreach to disabled rowers as well as engaging club members to assist. This is particularly impressive as rowing is not traditionally a popular pursuit in the surrounding area. |
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Medal of Merit – Di Binley: Di Binley has made a lifetime’s commitment to club rowing, from learning to row at Lancaster University in 1984 to her current portfolio of roles for Ardingly Rowing Club, where she is the driving force behind the club’s success. She has contributed many years’ service to the sport, influencing and supporting change in the way it is run, and being an influential voice in regional and national initiatives. She was founding Secretary of the North West Women’s Rowing Association, enabling talented club athletes to train and compete together against the top British clubs in the days when coming from a small NW club was a major disadvantage. At Ardingly she has held practically every committee position, including single handedly raising funds for essential initiatives such as the complete replacement of the motor launches. Di spots gaps, translates problems, and facilitates the actions of others. |