Competitors from across the province are expected to take part in the Alberta Indoor Rowing Championships on Saturday, March 1 at the Abbey Centre in Blackfalds.
This year marks the 20th year that the Central Alberta Rowing Club has hosted the event.
President Andy Nokes explained that the competitors will be racing on 15 gym rowing machines. There are also 25 warm-up machines onsite.
"We expect to have about 140 participants. It's great to watch," Nokes said, adding that many students from the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta come out to encourage the athletes.
The races, which take place from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., are open to both rowing club members and the general public. There are male and female categories, with the event is open to all ages. Last year's championship featured competitors ranging in age from 14 to 70.
"It's a fun event, but also it's used initially to identify athletes that are going to be good for selection for the provincial crews," noted Nokes. "This will be the first step and then there's a rowing camp and then additional training."
Participants will compete in 1,000-metre (27 years and older) and 2,000-metre distances. There is also a 4-person relay event to cap off the day.
Nokes, who's in his 70s, has been rowing competitively since high school, having grown up along the River Thames in England.
"There are a lot of rivers and every town that's on a river has a rowing club virtually," he remarked. "It's a very popular sport."
Nokes has rowed in many countries around the world, including Belgium, in which he lived for 13 years. He rowed in France in 2022 in the World Masters Rowing Championships and the Canadian Masters Regatta in Burnaby, B.C. in 2024.
He says the climate in Europe is much more accommodating to rowing all year compared to Central Alberta, where prime rowing months run from May to October.
Nokes moved to Canada in April of 2000 and has been the president of the Central Alberta Rowing Club since 2006. At its peak, the club had around 50 members but is now sitting at about 20. Nokes revealed they'll be holding events this summer to try and attract more junior rowers to the club.
"It's a good all-round physical activity," he said. "It's in the open air...I find it's a great way to destress mentally because the technique does take time to master and then you need to maintain the concentration so you can focus entirely on that as opposed to everything else that's going on."
He said the rowing machines that are used at the indoor championships do a good job of simulating rowing in a boat.
Sign up to get the latest local news headlines delivered directly to your inbox every afternoon.
Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@centralalbertaonline.com.
CentralAlbertaOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the CentralAlbertaOnline app.