What rowers really think
Voice of Participant survey reveals startling insights into oar sport.
If you've ever asked the parent or caregiver of a novice rower about the effect the sport has had on their lives, the response usually starts with a look of wonderment, followed by anecdotal words like:
"Unbelievable."
"Incredible."
"Transformational."
Now, the sport of rowing has been able to turn a much closer and clearer lens on itself by taking part in Sport New Zealand's Voice of Participant survey between March and April this year.
There are some staggering insights into the sport provided by the nearly 800 rowers and parents who took part in the survey who are involved in rowing at local schools and clubs right across New Zealand.
The survey benchmarks rowing against four years of data (2021-24) from 18 other sports in New Zealand and more than 40,000 respondents.
“Many results are worthy of celebration, and a few give rise to further conversations at some levels about how our partners and we continually improve delivering positive rowing experiences across the country" noted Rowing NZ CEO Simon Wickham.
One of the most telling insights into the sport comes in the data from the "Main reason for belonging (to rowing)" question.
44% of rowers say their main reason is to row competitively compared with those from All Sports (25%).
"We love to compete, and no matter the age, it's still the number one reason for belonging," says Rowing NZ's GM of Sport Development, Jared Cummings. "It's what drives rowers in their daily training and regattas, it's what keeps our volunteers, coaches and officials coming back and it's what drives the improvement of systems that make rowing better. In the end our community love to be the best they can be."
The corresponding line graph reveals another powerful message about the sport.
"What I see with that," says Rowing New Zealand Chief Executive Simon Wickham, "is a group of people that start off attracted to the sport because of its competitive nature and who get all the health and fitness, life skills and opportunities that come with that. Then, around that 35-years-old mark, when it's less about high-performance, they're still so invested, they're saying, 'I'm still getting so much out of it that it doesn't matter whether I'm standing on the dais at international regattas or not."
Rowing also stands out when it comes to the amount of time people commit compared across All Sports.
Most rowers in the 8-18 age group are spending 11 hours or more a week training or competing, it's 52% across all age groups.
"It's no small commitment to be a rower, coach, volunteer or official," says Jared. "Thousands of hours go into making a boat go fast every year, even just the time it takes to attend a regatta with loading and towing boats, setting up at regattas or camps. Rowing is a very logistically complex sport."
It's a commitment that explains so much about rowing and the clear messages (positive and negative) that have come out of the survey.
"We are highly invested," says Jared.
That time investment is also reflected when respondents were asked about the number of away days associated with regattas and camps.
More than half (51%) are spending a week or more away at training camps, nearly half are going to Karapiro regattas for a week or more during the season, 35% are spending the same amount of time at Ruataniwha for racing.
45% of under-18s spending a week or more away are travelling with one or more family members.
An economic impact study from Lake Karapiro hosting Maadi Regatta in 2021 estimated the value to the area at more than $13 million.
One of the survey questions was aimed at finding out how satisfied respondents were with their sport overall.
Rowing compared well against "All Sports" in these "Key" metrics.
"Value for Money" was broken into four demographics. (13-18yo, 19-35, 35+, parents)
78% of 13-18s agree or strongly agree rowing provides value for money. The demo presumably funding these athletes – parents – mostly back that up, with 66% agreeing or strongly agreeing rowing provides value for money.
“I think this result reflects how many rowing parents, like me, feel about their kids involvement in rowing because whilst it’s not the cheapest sport your child can do it does provide a fantastic return on investment in terms of setting them up in sport, in leadership and in life” notes RNZ CEO, Simon Wickham.
"Likelihood to Rejoin" was also split into those four demographics, and here parents (73%) say they are likely or very likely to rejoin, alongside 78% of 13-18s. 84% of rowers over 35 feel the same about rejoining.
Nine in ten respondents (87%) say ‘participating in rowing has helped develop life skills.’
Simon believes the sport is a supercharger in that respect.
"I think what our sport's created is a wonderful life leadership programme packaged up as rowing. If you said to the average 14-year-old, 'I'm going to put you through a life leadership programme for the next five years,' they'd roll their eyes and go, 'Oh God!'
"But we just call it rowing."
"My view is it's a real mastery sport. It's hard to master and for the people that take part in it, that's one of the most attractive facets of it. It doesn't come easy."
"One of the outtakes of this Voice of Participant survey is if you are someone that loves working hard to get fit and healthy, that loves trying to master something, finds the joy in effort, then we've got the sport for you."
The survey puts a microscope on how satisfied respondents are on factors that drive participation in rowing.
73% of those surveyed are very or extremely satisfied with rowing's ability to provide a safe environment for adults and children.
Being friendly and welcoming gets a 72% endorsement, but that increases to 93% when 'satisfied' respondents are included.
The survey also points to opportunities to increase satisfaction, as far as:
- 'Providing information when needed' (55% very or extremely satisfied).
- 'Having clean and well-maintained facilities' (53%).
- 'Is fair and provides equal opportunities for rowers' (53%). It's where rowing scores more negatively than All Sports with 22% of rowing respondents saying they were extremely dissatisfied or dissatisfied in this area.
A sample of between 320-340 females were asked three questions about gender equality at their clubs and the responses were ranked alongside All Sports 2021-24.
Here's what they say:
74% say they strongly agree/agree that their club treats people equally regardless of gender compared with 83% for All Sports.
On equal opportunity for assuming leadership roles, 81% strongly agree/agree, compared with 84% for All Sports.
When it comes to providing appropriate programmes and/or opportunities for women and girls, 79% strongly agree/agree compared with 74% across All Sports.
Rowing scores extremely well compared with All Sports on the level of satisfaction with having "Highly qualified/experienced officials available when you compete".
73% are very or extremely satisfied. All Sports is at 47%.
Sure, in rowing it's clear who crosses the line first and there's nothing much subjective in deciding that outcome. But it's a huge accolade for rowing's many, many volunteers and the quality of the systems, practices and expertise involved with umpiring.
"Just like the dedication of our rowers, our officials and volunteers are also very keen on the pursuit of excellence, this translates into a constantly improving community of friends who get together and make these regattas the best in the world," says Jared. "A good example is the standard “five-minute intervals” between races for up to 10 hours in a row on some race days... now that’s world class!
Rowing appears to buck the trend of putting participation above performance.
Here's how 13–18-year-olds responded when asked about emphasis on winning, developing skills and fun.
69% say the emphasis on winning is about right. 22% say there's not enough emphasis on winning. It's 18% across all rowing age groups. Less than 10% say there is too much emphasis on winning.
"One of the things that attracted me to the sport is that rowing is unashamedly high-performance focused," says Simon. "And I'm not talking about Olympic-focused. I'm talking about that roughly 90% training, 10% competing aspect of rowing. It's not something we're looking to change."
Simon and Jared want the survey to be a starting point for making the sport even more attractive and fulfilling.
It starts with sharing the survey - creating the opportunity for conversation. Simon's clear, Rowing New Zealand will play a part in making improvements, but it will also have to be driven by the rowing community, its clubs, schools, universities and supporters.
In that respect, Simon and Jared want to create a knowledge hub that would allow people to share information.
The new Whakatipu Rowing Club is an example of this. What was learned during the process that could help other clubs prepare to do the same thing?
What about the new school trying to file grant applications?
Takapuna Grammar's been involved in long negotiations with Auckland Council and a private owner about facilities at Bayswater Wharf. Their specific knowledge could be invaluable to others in similar situations.
What effective initiatives are underway in schools and clubs or other sports to help with equality? What can our sport do to improve in this area?
And what about improving facilities? Are there any quick wins that we can achieve in this space, and what are the barriers.
As well as the knowledge hub next year , the team are proposing a Club Administrator/Club Captain's conference to help Club admins navigate what Jared calls "the toughest role in local rowing".
“Providing opportunities for our community to connect, share and learn from each other will be invaluable,” says Jared “We have so much experience in our wider rowing community and we definitely don’t lack the desire or drive when it comes to trying to make our sport even better!”
One of the key outcomes of the survey found that 89% of rowers were extremely satisfied or satisfied with their overall experience.
"We just have to work on the other 10 per cent now," says Simon.
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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What rowers really think
Voice of Participant survey reveals startling insights into oar sport.
If you've ever asked the parent or caregiver of a novice rower about the effect the sport has had on their lives, the response usually starts with a look of wonderment, followed by anecdotal words like:
"Unbelievable."
"Incredible."
"Transformational."
Now, the sport of rowing has been able to turn a much closer and clearer lens on itself by taking part in Sport New Zealand's Voice of Participant survey between March and April this year.
There are some staggering insights into the sport provided by the nearly 800 rowers and parents who took part in the survey who are involved in rowing at local schools and clubs right across New Zealand.
The survey benchmarks rowing against four years of data (2021-24) from 18 other sports in New Zealand and more than 40,000 respondents.
“Many results are worthy of celebration, and a few give rise to further conversations at some levels about how our partners and we continually improve delivering positive rowing experiences across the country" noted Rowing NZ CEO Simon Wickham.
One of the most telling insights into the sport comes in the data from the "Main reason for belonging (to rowing)" question.
44% of rowers say their main reason is to row competitively compared with those from All Sports (25%).
"We love to compete, and no matter the age, it's still the number one reason for belonging," says Rowing NZ's GM of Sport Development, Jared Cummings. "It's what drives rowers in their daily training and regattas, it's what keeps our volunteers, coaches and officials coming back and it's what drives the improvement of systems that make rowing better. In the end our community love to be the best they can be."
The corresponding line graph reveals another powerful message about the sport.
"What I see with that," says Rowing New Zealand Chief Executive Simon Wickham, "is a group of people that start off attracted to the sport because of its competitive nature and who get all the health and fitness, life skills and opportunities that come with that. Then, around that 35-years-old mark, when it's less about high-performance, they're still so invested, they're saying, 'I'm still getting so much out of it that it doesn't matter whether I'm standing on the dais at international regattas or not."
Rowing also stands out when it comes to the amount of time people commit compared across All Sports.
Most rowers in the 8-18 age group are spending 11 hours or more a week training or competing, it's 52% across all age groups.
"It's no small commitment to be a rower, coach, volunteer or official," says Jared. "Thousands of hours go into making a boat go fast every year, even just the time it takes to attend a regatta with loading and towing boats, setting up at regattas or camps. Rowing is a very logistically complex sport."
It's a commitment that explains so much about rowing and the clear messages (positive and negative) that have come out of the survey.
"We are highly invested," says Jared.
That time investment is also reflected when respondents were asked about the number of away days associated with regattas and camps.
More than half (51%) are spending a week or more away at training camps, nearly half are going to Karapiro regattas for a week or more during the season, 35% are spending the same amount of time at Ruataniwha for racing.
45% of under-18s spending a week or more away are travelling with one or more family members.
An economic impact study from Lake Karapiro hosting Maadi Regatta in 2021 estimated the value to the area at more than $13 million.
One of the survey questions was aimed at finding out how satisfied respondents were with their sport overall.
Rowing compared well against "All Sports" in these "Key" metrics.
"Value for Money" was broken into four demographics. (13-18yo, 19-35, 35+, parents)
78% of 13-18s agree or strongly agree rowing provides value for money. The demo presumably funding these athletes – parents – mostly back that up, with 66% agreeing or strongly agreeing rowing provides value for money.
“I think this result reflects how many rowing parents, like me, feel about their kids involvement in rowing because whilst it’s not the cheapest sport your child can do it does provide a fantastic return on investment in terms of setting them up in sport, in leadership and in life” notes RNZ CEO, Simon Wickham.
"Likelihood to Rejoin" was also split into those four demographics, and here parents (73%) say they are likely or very likely to rejoin, alongside 78% of 13-18s. 84% of rowers over 35 feel the same about rejoining.
Nine in ten respondents (87%) say ‘participating in rowing has helped develop life skills.’
Simon believes the sport is a supercharger in that respect.
"I think what our sport's created is a wonderful life leadership programme packaged up as rowing. If you said to the average 14-year-old, 'I'm going to put you through a life leadership programme for the next five years,' they'd roll their eyes and go, 'Oh God!'
"But we just call it rowing."
"My view is it's a real mastery sport. It's hard to master and for the people that take part in it, that's one of the most attractive facets of it. It doesn't come easy."
"One of the outtakes of this Voice of Participant survey is if you are someone that loves working hard to get fit and healthy, that loves trying to master something, finds the joy in effort, then we've got the sport for you."
The survey puts a microscope on how satisfied respondents are on factors that drive participation in rowing.
73% of those surveyed are very or extremely satisfied with rowing's ability to provide a safe environment for adults and children.
Being friendly and welcoming gets a 72% endorsement, but that increases to 93% when 'satisfied' respondents are included.
The survey also points to opportunities to increase satisfaction, as far as:
- 'Providing information when needed' (55% very or extremely satisfied).
- 'Having clean and well-maintained facilities' (53%).
- 'Is fair and provides equal opportunities for rowers' (53%). It's where rowing scores more negatively than All Sports with 22% of rowing respondents saying they were extremely dissatisfied or dissatisfied in this area.
A sample of between 320-340 females were asked three questions about gender equality at their clubs and the responses were ranked alongside All Sports 2021-24.
Here's what they say:
74% say they strongly agree/agree that their club treats people equally regardless of gender compared with 83% for All Sports.
On equal opportunity for assuming leadership roles, 81% strongly agree/agree, compared with 84% for All Sports.
When it comes to providing appropriate programmes and/or opportunities for women and girls, 79% strongly agree/agree compared with 74% across All Sports.
Rowing scores extremely well compared with All Sports on the level of satisfaction with having "Highly qualified/experienced officials available when you compete".
73% are very or extremely satisfied. All Sports is at 47%.
Sure, in rowing it's clear who crosses the line first and there's nothing much subjective in deciding that outcome. But it's a huge accolade for rowing's many, many volunteers and the quality of the systems, practices and expertise involved with umpiring.
"Just like the dedication of our rowers, our officials and volunteers are also very keen on the pursuit of excellence, this translates into a constantly improving community of friends who get together and make these regattas the best in the world," says Jared. "A good example is the standard “five-minute intervals” between races for up to 10 hours in a row on some race days... now that’s world class!
Rowing appears to buck the trend of putting participation above performance.
Here's how 13–18-year-olds responded when asked about emphasis on winning, developing skills and fun.
69% say the emphasis on winning is about right. 22% say there's not enough emphasis on winning. It's 18% across all rowing age groups. Less than 10% say there is too much emphasis on winning.
"One of the things that attracted me to the sport is that rowing is unashamedly high-performance focused," says Simon. "And I'm not talking about Olympic-focused. I'm talking about that roughly 90% training, 10% competing aspect of rowing. It's not something we're looking to change."
Simon and Jared want the survey to be a starting point for making the sport even more attractive and fulfilling.
It starts with sharing the survey - creating the opportunity for conversation. Simon's clear, Rowing New Zealand will play a part in making improvements, but it will also have to be driven by the rowing community, its clubs, schools, universities and supporters.
In that respect, Simon and Jared want to create a knowledge hub that would allow people to share information.
The new Whakatipu Rowing Club is an example of this. What was learned during the process that could help other clubs prepare to do the same thing?
What about the new school trying to file grant applications?
Takapuna Grammar's been involved in long negotiations with Auckland Council and a private owner about facilities at Bayswater Wharf. Their specific knowledge could be invaluable to others in similar situations.
What effective initiatives are underway in schools and clubs or other sports to help with equality? What can our sport do to improve in this area?
And what about improving facilities? Are there any quick wins that we can achieve in this space, and what are the barriers.
As well as the knowledge hub next year , the team are proposing a Club Administrator/Club Captain's conference to help Club admins navigate what Jared calls "the toughest role in local rowing".
“Providing opportunities for our community to connect, share and learn from each other will be invaluable,” says Jared “We have so much experience in our wider rowing community and we definitely don’t lack the desire or drive when it comes to trying to make our sport even better!”
One of the key outcomes of the survey found that 89% of rowers were extremely satisfied or satisfied with their overall experience.
"We just have to work on the other 10 per cent now," says Simon.
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.
