Newark Rowing Club pair eyeing the British Beach Sprint Championships

Two members of Newark Rowing Club have turned their attentions to the British Beach Sprint Championships after excelling in their latest assessments.

Oliver Robertson and Ashley Cowley travelled down to Great Britain’s National Training Centre in Caversham, Reading, on Saturday to compete in the spring assessment for the new Great Britain Beach Sprints Team.

Robertson competed in the under-19s event and enjoyed an excellent first run down the course, which placed him first overall. Cowley, head coach at Newark, raced in the senior trial.

His time of 02-33 was good enough for fourth place.

Beach Sprints is the new look coastal rowing event.

The format consisted of a beach start, with a 50m run down to the shoreline before jumping into your boat and sprinting out to sea through a 250m slalom.

Rowers then complete an 180 degrees turn before completing a sprint back to the beach where competitors then jump out of the boat and run back up the beach.

Both Newark athletes now look ahead to the summer to compete in the British Beach Sprint Championships, where they will be given invitations to the final trials for Great Britain ahead of potential selection for the World Championships in Wales and the European Championships in Spain this Autumn.