Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club - A great year

North of England Sprint Championships hosted by Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club

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2013 was an excellent year for Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club (HLRC) with progress and success being the goal and achievement for all ages.

There were gold medals for juniors racing for the first time; a Junior World Championship gold medal for Jess Leyden in Lithuania and a host of other gold medals and extraordinary achievements for juniors, seniors and old timers.

The club captain, Ian John, was named as British Rowing Club Performance Coach of the Year – a great honour for Ian and the club.

Following the 2012 Olympic Games there was an influx of enquiries, inspired by the success of the GB Rowing Team. This meant that 2013 saw the largest number of juniors attending regularly for many years, something that has breathed a new life and chaos into the club.

Many of the 12–16 year olds train Saturday and Sunday mornings in all weathers. If the conditions are too bad to row on the lake there is always the joy of circuit training, running around the lake or ergo training (rowing machines). There is also training on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for the more hardened, indoor in the winter and out on the lake in the summer.

Hollingworth Lake is one of the coldest lakes in Europe and during the winter the launch is out to rescue anyone who decides they want to find out just how cold it is.

Winter rowing competitions are called Head Races, usually somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 metres. These saw many successes for the senior members and also for some juniors.

In the summer it is the regatta season, shorter sprint races usually between 350 and 750 metres. These are held on lakes and rivers throughout the country and Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club was represented well and successfully during the whole season, culminating in the North of England Sprint Championships which was hosted by the club and took place in September on Hollingworth Lake. This was a day of high drama with several capsizes in the choppy waters and the senior members of HLRC winning more races than the seniors from any other club attending. With over 180 races being held in the day it was an organisational and logistical nightmare, but a huge success.

There is a growing interest and participation in indoor rowing competitions, which take place on rowing machines and are distance or timed races. HLRC organises the English indoor rowing competition each year and in 2013 the event was held in January at the Manchester Velodrome. This saw hundreds of competitors from all over the country, and of all ages from 12 to 80 years old, striving to be the best in their category. As well as hosting a very successful event, HLRC came away with a good number of gold, silver and bronze medals. The competition is once again taking place at the Velodrome in March 2014.

In 2014 the club will be represented by more crews in more junior races as the junior members have trained hard and are chomping at the bit to put that training into practice on the water. There is a determination to succeed and a willingness to put the time and effort into the training to get the results they want. It is amazing how the possibility of that gold medal is motivation enough to produce blood, sweat and tears.

HLRC is also looking to improve the facilities at the club with newer and better equipment – weights for weight training, new blades (oars), and new boats to cater for the ever growing commitment of junior and senior members.

Also there are plans for an extension at the side of the club to increase boat storage facilities and provide a separate area for weight and ergo training. The only problem with these plans is the cost of putting them into practice and the club is continually looking for sponsorship or ways of raising money.

A club spokesman said: "There is no doubt that 2014 will be an exciting year for Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club.

"Privileged to row in such a beautiful location and be part of a wonderfully supportive community, the members of the club, who come from near and far, know they all have a responsibility to make the local community proud and are determined to carry on the proud traditions of the club at local and national level, representing club, community and country."