Start Rowing

Are you interested in taking up a new sport, getting fit and meeting some great new people? Learning to row on the beautiful River Orwell with Ipswich RC may be just the thing that you are looking for.

The club runs a formal Start Rowing course several times a year, carried out according to the Learn to Row syllabus structured by the National Governing Body, British Rowing.  This is a comprehensive course of 8 sessions of two hours each, usually run on consecutive weekends.  The cost is £125 for the course and includes temporary membership of the club for your personal insurance purposes.

As a pre-requisite, you must be able to swim 100 metres in light clothing.  Please also be aware that we can only accept adults aged 18 or over.

You’ll be learning to row with other beginners, so you’ll all be ‘in the same boat’, as it were!  You start the course with others new to the sport so you can develop your skills together as a group.

What will I get out of it?   –  the aim of Start Rowing is to get you out on the water as much as possible to teach you the basics of what is required to row a narrow sliding seat boat.  Rowing is a highly skilful activity and takes some considerable time to learn to do well. It requires an amount of strength and fitness to handle the equipment and be safe on the water.

You will:

• Learn about safety, both on and off the water.
• Learn the correct British Rowing technique
• Be able to identify boats and equipment that you will be using
• Know what clothing to wear and the physical and safety requirements of rowing.

By the time you finish the course you will have learnt the basics of sculling (an oar in each hand) and will have an understanding of sweep oar rowing (one oar with both hands).  If you choose to become a club member, you will be able to go on the river once you have reached a basic level of safety and competence, and you will enter a squad of like-minded individuals.