While it may be too cold for Albertans to row outdoors, dozens of athletes competed for a provincial championship using rowing machines in Blackfalds.
More than 130 athletes from across the province competed in the Alberta Indoor Rowing Championships, hosted by the Central Alberta Rowing Club at the Abbey Centre on Saturday.
“These athletes are probably training five times a week,” said Andy Nokes, Central Alberta Rowing Club president.
“The workouts on the rowing machine are usually around 10K per session, which is usually a combination of aerobic and anaerobic work. Anaerobic means they work in intervals, so they row very hard for a minute, then light, then hard again and so on.”
On top of their rowing workouts, the athletes are cross-training with weights at the gym, Nokes noted.
Saturday’s event featured a number of different categories for competing athletes, from an under-15 category to Masters, which features people over the age of 27.
“It’s really one of the toughest sports out there, so it’s a wonder that we stuck with it,” Nokes said with a laugh.
“It’s a very demanding sport physically, but it’s also a very rewarding one. Certainly, all of these athletes are looking forward to being in the water and racing in boats, whether it’s a single, a double, a four or an eight.”
Training at this time of year is important, Nokes added.
“Your performance is dependant on how well you’ve trained in the winter,” he said.
“The first part of winter training is aerobic fitness. … It’s tough rowing for (a long) period of time. The dedication in the winter pays off in the summer.”
The sport isn’t too big in central Alberta at this time, Nokes admitted.
“We struggle. We have a beautiful lake – Lacombe Lake. Since 2017 we built a boat house that has a vast collection of boats,” he said.
“COVID didn’t help our numbers. But we’ve worked a lot with the local high schools – the juniors. In some ways working with the juniors, although they go off to other places, they’re not lost from the sport. They can go to Calgary or Edmonton if they go to university or if they get a job. Others have gone over to Vancouver or Victoria.”
The club has a “steady core” of about 15 adults, he added.
“This summer we’re trying to get people to come learn to row,” said Nokes.
“This summer we’ll be competing – we’ll probably have a mixed Masters crew in the Alberta Open on Glenmore Reservoir in Calgary. We’re hoping to have some juniors. In the past we’ve raced juniors in Edmonton and Calgary. We’re also looking at possibilities going over into B.C.”
For more information on the Central Alberta Rowing Club, visit www.centralalbertarowing.com.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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