THE LAST few weeks have seen steady but considered progress to the ‘new normal’ at Stratford Boat Club.
Formal club groups and squads including juniors have expanded to include a maximum of 12 individuals (11 athletes and a coach) at any one time.
This has meant the various junior squads can more or less return to their former size which had meant double the outings per week for them.
Another welcomed change has been that mixed household crews in doubles and pairs may commence, subject to pre-booking to ensure social distancing from other club members and ensure maximum members at the club at any one time.
The new ‘bubbles’ have to remain in the same pairing for all their future outings and remain ‘faithful’ to each other!
Hygiene practices such as sanitising the blades, trestles and boat touch points before and after boating are strictly enforced.
Limited indoor training has commenced with the club’s gym and club room open with socially-distanced ergos.
This facility is also subject to pre-booking to ensure social distancing, controlled numbers on site and the static rowing machines and rooms are sanitised before and after use.
Other relaxations being considered by British Rowing in conjunction with advice from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is for the use of larger crew boats such as fours, quads, eights and octos, but this is unlikely for a few weeks.
Safety and coaching launches may be allowed in the future to have passengers on board to enable upstream coaching and outings for crew and Junior squad boats.
Stratford Boat Club chairman Dawson Curnock said: “All this steady but welcomed change comes at a time when we are planning the club’s annual general meeting which this year, in common with many other organisations, will be a ‘virtual’ AGM.
“This is a new venture for us. There has been a lot of change over the last couple of months which has meant considerable work and organisation by the club’s management team.”
