STRATFORD Boat Club masters sculler Kjersti Rogneflaten successfully represented Great Britain in a specially arranged One Minute Challenge against Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
In an event organised by British Rowing, Rogneflaten was, like many of her Stratford club-mates, grateful for the use of the club’s ergos to maintain her training.
She said: “I decided to test my lockdown training and did my 60 seconds and my distance of 272 meters was added to the total distance for Great Britain.”
Unofficial results say Great Britain won and Rogneflaten added: “My time was better than expected. Before the lockdown, a split under two minutes was just a number, but I managed 1.50.2 and that without completely collapsing (stroke rate at 34), which got me a second place in my category!
“By the end of this week (as a result of her training), I will have rowed to London and back! I have also learnt that, to be able to row fast, you have to do a lot of UT2/UT1 pieces which needs patience!”
To keep the enthusiasm going, many club members have completed weekly virtual regattas of different distances in everything from a single to Mx8+.
Like many others, Rogneflaten has got to know and use Zoom. The club’s Weekday Rowing squad regularly has a Zoom pilates session and the club’s Wednesday virtual circuit sessions run by Lucy Weston, the club’s qualified personal trainer, have gone well.
The club hopes for a gradual return to some form of rowing over the next few weeks as the situation becomes clearer.