Veteran's Squad
Veterans
The club welcomes everyone to row, regardless of age. You actually become a veteran rower at age 31. However, most rowers under 40 still row in the main senior events. All the local regattas have veteran events and different age groups can row against each other with a handicap system.
There is an active membership of both men and women rowers who compete in events. Many of these members were successful oarsmen and women when they were younger, some have taken a break in their rowing careers but as their children have grown up and the waistline has started to expand the call back to rowing has got stronger.
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Durham ARC veteran E 8 rowing against Tees veteran D 8 at Durham regatta in 2007. There was a handicap of 4 seconds because of the age difference. This is normally applied at the start so Durham set off 4 seconds before Tees who then had to catch and overtake them. This resulted in a dead heat. The re-row was won by Durham by 2 feet to win the event. The handicap system means that different age groups regularly row against each other.
If you used to row and want to take it up again you will be very welcome. Durham has had considerable success over the years.
The various veteran classes can be seen in the table below:
|
Veteran Class |
Minimum Average age of crew |
|
A |
31 |
|
B |
36 |
|
C |
43 |
|
D |
50 |
|
E |
55 |
|
F |
60 |
Winning even at local regatta level requires many hours of training. Most would agree that the general high level of fitness which results from the training gives a sense of physical and mental well being which is hard to beat. Come and join us and recreate the days of your youth. Well almost!!!
There are also bigger events such as the National Veteran Championships, Henley Veterans and World Masters where the club has also had some success. The training for these two events is very serious and the competition keen.
We also welcome new oarsmen and women who have never tried the sport before. Some just row for pleasure and to keep fit. Others decide to compete in regattas and there are a number of events specifically for them as a class called veteran novices. These are for people who come to the sport late in life and have never won a regatta event in their life.
Whilst undeniably serious about their rowing, the Veteran squad is organised around the demands of busy personal schedules. Many of the Veteran rowers are active participants in the running of the club and the squad has strong representation amongst coaches and committee members.
So whether an ex Olympic oarsmen or someone who has never rowed before come and join us. Many veterans are down on a Sunday morning around 10am.
For further information please contact the captain Mark Bell captain@durham-arc.org.uk .