Rowing regatta returns to the Maldives

The Maldives has now held its first modern rowing regatta complete with imported coastal rowing boats.

Two British national team members, Rachel Loveridge and Natasha Howard are currently in the Maldives helping to get rowing established and recently the first ever Interschool Rowing Competition took place.

Raced over a distance of 200m along the shores of Addu City, 86 student, both girls and boys, competed in age groups from under-14 to under-21.

Boats arrived in Addu at the end of August and Howard then had the task of getting students into boats and race ready. “My first priority was to train a group of ten volunteers to help me coach the pending students,” says Howard. “They all learnt to row in five sessions and luckily, having just gone through the process themselves, knew what was required to teach the beginner students.”

Howard describes; “Then followed five weeks of practising. Luckily we are in a lovely hot country and so we developed a new style of coaching – the novices row and the coach hangs off the back of the boat and is pulled through the water providing one to one coaching!“By the end of our eight-hour day, immersed in the sea water, we resembled pickled walnuts more than people. Happily the students were quick learners and we were soon able to progress from our watery medium into the more conventional coaching launch and go further afield. The only trouble with this is that the sea life tends to distract students and coaches alike resulting in regular stops to gaze over the side of the boat at rays, turtles, coral and myriads of fish.”

Following a selection process, students were chosen to race at the regatta which was timed to take place during the SAARC summit (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), also held in Addu.

Both Batten and Olympic medallist in rowing and cycling, Rebecca Romero came from Great Britain to help out with the regatta and were promptly given the job of finish line timing, a job, says Howard, that was not easy as finishes were very tight.  

“Considering this was the island’s first ever regatta the coaching team worked like a well oiled machine,” says Howard. The regatta fitted in 22 races and four reruns around a mandatory break between 10am and 2pm for Friday prayers, to finish by 5.30pm.

“The students surpassed themselves demonstrating beautifully all they had learnt in the past month and a half,” says Howard.

“During the day we had a large number of spectators come to watch ranging from friends and family to members of the Addu City Council including the Mayor Abdulla Sodiq and the Superintendent for Education, Fathimath Naseer, Farah Faizal the Ambassador for the Maldives in the London High Commission and even the President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, came to watch a race or two. MNBC sent a film crew in the morning which the students loved. Such prominent spectators helped enormously to raise the profile of rowing in the Atoll cementing support for the project and ensuring we have a huge number of people hoping to get into the four boats at our disposal.”

Howard says the plans for the next few months are to get the parents and teachers into swimming lessons then rowing. “The NGO’s have also expressed an interest in learning to row and having an Inter-NGO competition in the New Year’” says Howard. “Looking at the longer term, the city council continues to support the project and we are working towards a means of setting up a self sustaining rowing club in Addu City.”

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