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Coastal puts another mark in the sand
Our local Beach Sprints series is building for a big summer.
Sacred Heart coxswain Ryan Slater might just about be the best advertisement for the opportunities starting to open up in Coastal Rowing.
Just last weekend he found himself at the Prince Albert Challenge event in Monaco racing with New Zealand's Finn Hamill, Ben Mason, the Netherland's Olympic single sculls champion Karolien Florijn and Great Britain's next great hope in the single, Lauren Henry
"The athletes were singing Ryan's praises, they thought he was fantastic," says coach Gary Reid, who was with the team on the French Riviera.
Finn had been planning to use a coxswain over in Monaco but Gary suggested they look at Ryan because he'd been so impressive on a couple of Coastal camps they did over the winter at Ohope.
" I rang his parents just to make sure it was okay," says Gary. "He had exams and all that sort of thing. Well, they just cleared the slate so he could go. And the rest is history."
They won the Mixed Quad events, pocketed 1600 Euros each, and left another big marker in the sand about the sport's growing popularity.
Team Swift after winning the Mixed Quad in Monaco with (l-r) Ben Mason, Lauren Henry, Ryan Slater, Karolien Florijn and Finn Hamill last weekend. Just two weeks ago Ryan was coxing at the Memorial Regatta at Lake Karapiro for Sacred Heart College.
Beach Sprints New Zealand Event Director David Vallance says that's just one aspect of Coastal Rowing providing a new avenue for anyone and everyone to be involved in the sport of rowing.
He's just returned from the World Beach Sprint Champs in Turkiye, inspired and ready to hook into a summer on the sand starting with an event at Papamoa next Saturday (December 6).
"The vibe is so different to a flat-water world champs because all the athletes are in one tiny field of play, so everyone's connected," says David. "When it's a really close finish everyone's up on their feet cheering, the officials love it as well, they're umpiring while loud music's being played and they're dancing on the beach with their competitors.
"So my passion and my role in it is to get as many people involved and put on better and better events."
"I think the big thing with Beach Sprints and the message we're trying to send to school programmes, particularly coaches, is this is just a fun event.
Nothing more than that. If you look at the photos… just about every crew in every photograph, the kids are smiling. Even when they're rowing!"
David Vallance, Beach Sprints NZ Event Director.
Getting people involved comes in lots of ways.
David talks about the accessibility for a start. No boats, no towing, no rigging and you don't necessarily need a coach where school athletes are concerned, just some sensible parental supervision.
And if you're like Amelia Gardner from Cambridge Rowing Club at the opening Beach Sprint event at Orewa last weekend, you can even take the parent along with you.
Mum and daughter duo Amelia and Kate Gardner were third overall in the Women's Club Double at Orewa last weekend.
"There's maybe a quarter to a third of school rowers who don't get taken to Maadi because of the cost and perhaps they're not going to make finals," says David. "Quite often they don't find out until North Island Club champs and then it's sort of a damp end to their season. This would be a good way for them to finish off the season and go and do something fun, especially for those schools in the lower North Island."
David reckons there's some fear among coaches that the risk of injury is greater in Coastal, especially for those thinking about managing athletes with events like Maadi Regatta coming up.
"Having run seven or eight beach sprint events, I think the worst injury we've had was a stubbed toe!"
And then there's the opportunity for those who don't make Maadi squads for Twizel to stay involved by entering the North Island Beach Sprint Champs at Titahi Bay in Wellington on March 14.
"There's maybe a quarter to a third of school rowers who don't get taken to Maadi because of the cost and perhaps they're not going to make finals," says David. "Quite often they don't find out until North Island Club champs and then it's sort of a damp end to their season. I thought this would be a good way for them to finish off the season and go and doing something fun, especially for those schools in the lower North Island."
David would love to have a Maadi swaps style opportunity at Titahi Bay for those who don't get the chance to travel to Ruataniwha.
Beyond that, there's the New Zealand Beach Sprint Champs at Orewa on April 25-27.
"Part of the reason we went for the end of April was the weekend after Maadi is Easter and then you're in the school holidays," says David. "So we decided let's go after that."
Beach Sprint New Zealand Ambassador and current Solo world champion Emma Twigg will be out and about this summer helping coastal athletes with some of the finer points of the sport.
"What we're looking at doing is running a three-day camp during the holidays and hopefully we can get Emma Twigg and others along and do some sessions with the rowers so that a week and a half before the champs, they get to jump in a boat and practice entries and turns and things like that."
David's keen to see some 'have-a-go' events introduced at flat-water regattas to help overcome a few reservations about coastal boats.
" It's been shared by quite a few crews, they're nervous to enter because they've never done it. The reality is that we've had a number of events where kids have come along who have never been in a coastal boat, but they still get out, get around the course, have a lot of fun and actually end up winning.
"In the end, it's just rowing, it's just sculling but in a different boat, and in some ways it's easier because the hull's a lot flatter!"
If you want any more information about Beach Sprints or how to enter the Beach Sprint NZ Summer Series David Vallance director@beachsprintsnz.co.nz would be happy to help get you involved in Beach Sprints.
Andy Hay
Andy Hay is a freelance producer, writer and Maadi Cup-winning coach. He was cox of the world champion New Zealand eight of 1982 and '83. He is NZ Olympian #446.
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- Home
- /
- School Rowing
- /
- Coastal puts another...
Coastal puts another mark in the sand
Our local Beach Sprints series is building for a big summer.
Sacred Heart coxswain Ryan Slater might just about be the best advertisement for the opportunities starting to open up in Coastal Rowing.
Just last weekend he found himself at the Prince Albert Challenge event in Monaco racing with New Zealand's Finn Hamill, Ben Mason, the Netherland's Olympic single sculls champion Karolien Florijn and Great Britain's next great hope in the single, Lauren Henry
"The athletes were singing Ryan's praises, they thought he was fantastic," says coach Gary Reid, who was with the team on the French Riviera.
Finn had been planning to use a coxswain over in Monaco but Gary suggested they look at Ryan because he'd been so impressive on a couple of Coastal camps they did over the winter at Ohope.
" I rang his parents just to make sure it was okay," says Gary. "He had exams and all that sort of thing. Well, they just cleared the slate so he could go. And the rest is history."
They won the Mixed Quad events, pocketed 1600 Euros each, and left another big marker in the sand about the sport's growing popularity.
Team Swift after winning the Mixed Quad in Monaco with (l-r) Ben Mason, Lauren Henry, Ryan Slater, Karolien Florijn and Finn Hamill last weekend. Just two weeks ago Ryan was coxing at the Memorial Regatta at Lake Karapiro for Sacred Heart College.
Beach Sprints New Zealand Event Director David Vallance says that's just one aspect of Coastal Rowing providing a new avenue for anyone and everyone to be involved in the sport of rowing.
He's just returned from the World Beach Sprint Champs in Turkiye, inspired and ready to hook into a summer on the sand starting with an event at Papamoa next Saturday (December 6).
"The vibe is so different to a flat-water world champs because all the athletes are in one tiny field of play, so everyone's connected," says David. "When it's a really close finish everyone's up on their feet cheering, the officials love it as well, they're umpiring while loud music's being played and they're dancing on the beach with their competitors.
"So my passion and my role in it is to get as many people involved and put on better and better events."
"I think the big thing with Beach Sprints and the message we're trying to send to school programmes, particularly coaches, is this is just a fun event.
Nothing more than that. If you look at the photos… just about every crew in every photograph, the kids are smiling. Even when they're rowing!"
David Vallance, Beach Sprints NZ Event Director.
Getting people involved comes in lots of ways.
David talks about the accessibility for a start. No boats, no towing, no rigging and you don't necessarily need a coach where school athletes are concerned, just some sensible parental supervision.
And if you're like Amelia Gardner from Cambridge Rowing Club at the opening Beach Sprint event at Orewa last weekend, you can even take the parent along with you.
Mum and daughter duo Amelia and Kate Gardner were third overall in the Women's Club Double at Orewa last weekend.
"There's maybe a quarter to a third of school rowers who don't get taken to Maadi because of the cost and perhaps they're not going to make finals," says David. "Quite often they don't find out until North Island Club champs and then it's sort of a damp end to their season. This would be a good way for them to finish off the season and go and do something fun, especially for those schools in the lower North Island."
David reckons there's some fear among coaches that the risk of injury is greater in Coastal, especially for those thinking about managing athletes with events like Maadi Regatta coming up.
"Having run seven or eight beach sprint events, I think the worst injury we've had was a stubbed toe!"
And then there's the opportunity for those who don't make Maadi squads for Twizel to stay involved by entering the North Island Beach Sprint Champs at Titahi Bay in Wellington on March 14.
"There's maybe a quarter to a third of school rowers who don't get taken to Maadi because of the cost and perhaps they're not going to make finals," says David. "Quite often they don't find out until North Island Club champs and then it's sort of a damp end to their season. I thought this would be a good way for them to finish off the season and go and doing something fun, especially for those schools in the lower North Island."
David would love to have a Maadi swaps style opportunity at Titahi Bay for those who don't get the chance to travel to Ruataniwha.
Beyond that, there's the New Zealand Beach Sprint Champs at Orewa on April 25-27.
"Part of the reason we went for the end of April was the weekend after Maadi is Easter and then you're in the school holidays," says David. "So we decided let's go after that."
Beach Sprint New Zealand Ambassador and current Solo world champion Emma Twigg will be out and about this summer helping coastal athletes with some of the finer points of the sport.
"What we're looking at doing is running a three-day camp during the holidays and hopefully we can get Emma Twigg and others along and do some sessions with the rowers so that a week and a half before the champs, they get to jump in a boat and practice entries and turns and things like that."
David's keen to see some 'have-a-go' events introduced at flat-water regattas to help overcome a few reservations about coastal boats.
" It's been shared by quite a few crews, they're nervous to enter because they've never done it. The reality is that we've had a number of events where kids have come along who have never been in a coastal boat, but they still get out, get around the course, have a lot of fun and actually end up winning.
"In the end, it's just rowing, it's just sculling but in a different boat, and in some ways it's easier because the hull's a lot flatter!"
If you want any more information about Beach Sprints or how to enter the Beach Sprint NZ Summer Series David Vallance director@beachsprintsnz.co.nz would be happy to help get you involved in Beach Sprints.
Andy Hay
Andy Hay is a freelance producer, writer and Maadi Cup-winning coach. He was cox of the world champion New Zealand eight of 1982 and '83. He is NZ Olympian #446.
