BRITISH Rowing delivered positive news for Stratford Boat Club with the allowing of reintroduction of crew boats including coxes.
Athletes will have to wear full PPE including visor, mask and gloves as well as the mandatory life jacket.
Other changes include increasing the numbers of people, including coxes and coaches, onsite at any one time to 12 per session to limit numbers on the landing stage.
Staggered two-hour sessions now start every hour during the week with a quick turnaround for boating and landing. These sessions now start at various times on weekday mornings up to every 20 minutes.
Now schools are going back, an updated junior winter timetable comes into effect for both indoor and outdoor sessions and has to be pre-booked in the booking system so there are not too many athletes on site at any one time.
Launches may now go upstream with two people, coach and driver, subject to PPE and mutual consent.
The use of the changing rooms, kitchen and communal space are still restricted by capacity but, with boating and landings every 20 minutes, it should work out well.
However, there are still no mixed group circuits sessions on site for the foreseeable future.
Stratford Boat Club looks forward to welcoming King Edward VI and Stratford Girls’ Grammar School rowing and circuit sessions as and when the schools have worked out the logistics of ‘bubbling’ and social distancing for sport.
Very shortly, a new J13 group will start as the entire junior squad move up a category.
The junior section says ‘goodbye’ to its ‘old’ J17/18 squad as they go off to university or join the club’s senior squad.
Changing at the club is still not allowed by British Rowing’s advice, except in the case of capsize.
