Commonwealth Championships attract a range of nations

 “This was the biggest ever entry (for the Commonwealth Championships) with 14 nations taking part, although 17 had initially entered. It was a very successful regatta with a great deal of support being offered to the developing nations,” said Mike Morrice, Chair of the regatta’s organising committee.

The developing nations in attendance included Zambia, Vanuatu and Nigeria. In addition there were officials from Nigeria and Jamaica who used the regatta to make contacts and learn about ways of developing rowing in their own countries.

In the days prior to the regatta, a training programme for these athletes and officials was organised by British rowing coach Sallie Malt. Malt is also a Lead FISA Coach for the cooperation for development that FISA has with British Rowing and UK Sport. “We had five preparation days with them and, in addition to a normal water programme, we gave them some video analysis as well as advice on core strength nutrition and race preparation,” said Malt. A range of coaching resources was also provided.

The two female rowers from Nigeria, Favour Bewei and Lillian Jephart, had only been rowing for three months before the championships and this was their first regatta. Originally canoeists, the training Bewei and Jephart received during the limited time available in the lead-up to the championships focused mainly on safety and race protocols.

Zambian rower, Desmond Nanchengwa and Vanuatu’s Luigi Teilemb, both had prior international experience and also spent time at a training camp in Varese, Italy, before competing in Scotland.

Nanchengwa raced at the World Rowing Championships in the lightweight men’s single sculls in 2012 and the open weight men’s single in 2013. This year the single sculler raced at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships. “The event was well run and we had no trouble sourcing equipment and general aid from the organising committee,” said Nanchengwa.

Nanchengwa began rowing at high school when a friend suggested the sport to him as something more fun than tennis or basketball. “I gave it a try and loved it from day one,” said Nanchengwa whose ultimate goal is to be the first Zambian rower to row at the Olympic Games. “My broader goal is to help build a federation that can produce world-class athletes,” he added.

British Rowing Coach and FISA Coach Expert, Jim Flood successfully organised the donation of ergometers to three developing nations during the championships. Zambia and Jamaica received one each and Nigeria two. The ergometers were donated by Concept 2 to be used during the championships. They were then delivered to the chosen nations. “These will be used to support training and testing programmes developed by FISA,” said Flood.

The Championships were held a few days after the 2014 Commonwealth Games, hosted in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 3 August. The Commonwealth Games includes 17 sports at the four-yearly multisport Games. Rowing is classified as a Category 2 ‘optional’ sport. This means that the host cities can choose rowing as one of the optional sports. Since 1986 the Commonwealth Rowing Championships regatta has been organised in the year of the Commonwealth Games with medals being provided by the Commonwealth Games Federation.

In Strathclyde, racing was held over 1,500m or 500m for the 23 boat classes on the programme. “This was due to a boom being put up just before the normal 2,000m finish,” explained Morrice. “The boom was set up to help purify the water so that the swimming part of the Commonwealth Games triathlon could safely take place.”

Scotland finished at the top of the medals table with 15 medals, including nine gold medals. England ranked closely behind with 15 medals of which five were gold. Canada was placed in third position with a total of 13 medals. The most successful athlete at the regatta was Scotland’s Angus Groom who won four gold medals – in the open single sculls, the sprint single sculls, as well as both the open and sprint double sculls with partner Lewis McCue.

The regatta concluded with a mixed eights race that included a “Spirit of the Commonwealth” crew – a composite crew drawn from Gibraltar, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Vanuatu and Zambia, with a Scottish coxswain. 

To view the overall results of the 2014 Commonwealth Rowing Championships, click here. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/to2kZAtPtBCAvXWDK4MSISQ/htmlview?pli=1#

The next Commonwealth Games will be held in 2018 on Australia’s Gold Coast.