Anyone who’s ever been on a club committee can probably agree that when it comes to organising events, competitions, or even regular training sessions, sometimes it all comes together and the planning pays off. There are also times when the running of a club feels like a slight uphill battle. Individual work commitments, holidays, family, illness and injury, child care, studying, and just general everyday life can make it a struggle to keep the club spirit alive. When it comes to rowing; throw in extreme tides, bad storms, floating debris, rough water, high winds or damaged equipment and it’s a wonder we can ever pull off a single outing. Now the amazing weather and flat waters have arrived and there is something brand new to prevent us from pulling on our all-in-ones.
I was told about the Lockdown League by a fellow committee and club member. It was a few weeks into the lockdown by this point and, while I was obviously missing being out on the water, the erg was becoming my friend again. I had a look at the link and loved how simple it was to get involved – no registration required or complicated way of logging information. We have been able to lend a few of our club ergs to TRC members and there are some keen cyclists and runners amongst us. Best of all, this challenge seemed to hit the spot with our club members and we really hit the ground running (and cycling and erging).
Most of us partake in regular exercise for our own satisfaction or personal fitness goals and it has been great to be able to put the hard work towards something extra. By clocking our metres it really feels like we are doing something for our club and, with the addition of the weekly workouts, I think it has also been a great way to stay motivated. Above all, it has given me something to post about on our Club Facebook group so it looks like I am continuing to dedicate some of my newly acquired free time towards my duties as a committee member.
Tay Rowing Club is one of the smallest and newest clubs in Scotland (I would say the smallest and newest but have not fact checked this so do not want to start any unwanted interclub rivalry). To nestle ourselves firmly in the top 15 from week 1 was a huge achievement for us! We’ve since seen ourselves jump around in the top 10 and I am immensely proud of everyone who’s been involved. We are very excited to see if we can hold our place in the lead for the most metres per member when the revised table comes out next week. We welcome a bit of healthy competition from the likes of Inverness, Stirling, St Andrew and Castle Semple who have been battling it out for those medal places over the past month. We’re pleased to see our local rivals river allies, Dundee University, never too far away either.
To all the clubs involved, we have thoroughly enjoyed sharing this with you and look forward to hopefully seeing some of you for the real thing in the not too distant future. Thank you to Scottish Rowing for keeping us going and, though it will be a shame when it comes to an end, hopefully that will mean that things are returning to some kind of normality for the Rowing Community.
Rowing Coordinator, Tay Rowing Club.