While the attention of the Rowing community in the North of England was focused on Durham Long Distance Sculls (LDS) and Autumn Small Boats Head (ASBH) last Saturday, November 2nd, Roger Stainforth was otherwise occupied representing Durham ARC at the North East Indoor Rowing Championships (NEIRC), organised by Durham University Boat Club (DUBC) and held at Maiden Castle Sports Centre on the same day.
Roger was DARC’s sole representative at Maiden Castle in one of the Men’s 2000 metre races in what was his first live race, as opposed to virtual/online races, for 2 years. ‘I was pleased to have other competitors to race even though most were 60 years younger!’, he explains.
Roger was delighted to emerge with a time of 7.35.7 and a new British Record in the 80-84 age category for Men’s Heavyweight 2000 metres.
He went on, ‘I went into this event not expecting to achieve a new British record but as the race progressed I found I was able to push on harder with 600 metres to go. I was thrilled to record 7.35.7, a time 2.5 seconds faster than the previous record. That’s one more record to the collection, since my 80th birthday on September 4th’.
Since turning 80 he has set four 80-84 category British Records –
30 minutes – 7261 metres (2:03.9 split)
10 000 metres – 41:49.8m (2:05.4 split)
60 minutes – 14274 metres (2:06.1 split)
2000 metres – 7.35.7 (1:53.9 split)
Roger specialises in the indoor version of the sport and has supported the NEIRC as well as the British Rowing Indoor Championships (BRIC) and other major Indoor competitions each year, apart from a rare unavoidable absence last year.
It was disappointing for indoor and outdoor competitions to be scheduled on the same day and at the same place, thus affecting attendance.
As Roger points out ‘It is a great shame that the two events happen on the same day and perhaps more co-ordination in future could help find a date that doesn’t clash.’
For many years the NEIRC was organised by DUBC on a Wednesday date in November, until 2 years ago when changes to the BUCS calendar brought about the introduction of the Indoor & Adaptive Series which involved Universities bidding for the right to stage an event in each region. Durham University put in a successful bid which meant moving to a weekend date to satisfy BUCS conditions. The NEIRC continues as a guest event in conjunction with the BUCS Series, aimed at attracting entries from the wider community. The involvement of the rowing community in an on-water event on the same day however has seen an unfortunate decline of interest in what has always been an excellent indoor competition that was attended by members of local rowing clubs.
Roger’s plans for the coming weeks include attempting more times and distances on the rowing machine and SkiErg. He has entered BRIC 2024 which takes place at the NEC in Birmingham on December 7th/8th and will try to improve on the 2k record, and then the World Championships in February 2025 is his ultimate ambition.
He set a British record for 75-79 2k at BRIC in 2019. Concept2 records are published here. His interview with Fergus Mainland for Inside Indoor ahead of BRIC last year is available here.