23 July 2020

By Tim Koch

Today, the British Rowing website published the following:

Having received feedback from the (Department of Culture, Media and Sport), British Rowing has updated our ‘Return to Rowing’ guidance specifically in relation to crew boat rowing. The advice sets out a phased approach to the re-introduction of crew boats starting with coxless pairs and doubles before gradually moving up to eights and octuples.

The advice requires clubs to put in place a number of measures to ensure that the risk of transmission of the virus through crew boat rowing is reduced. These measures may take your club some time to put in place so please be patient with your club volunteers as they work to understand and implement the requirements. 

The timetable set out in the advice defines the earliest time that your club reintroduces the different types of crew boats but clubs may wish to take more time to ensure everything is in place. Clubs should also be conscious of any local conditions, for example ‘local lockdowns’, that may mean they need to adapt the advice accordingly. 

Download the full guidance (changes are highlighted in yellow on page 9/10 and page 28/29) below.

As of late afternoon on Thursday 23 July, there had been no similar changes announced on the websites of Scottish Rowing or Welsh Rowing. Rowing Ireland has allowed crew rowing since 29 June.