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By Ian Gustafson

March 1

Central Alberta Rowing Club to host 20th annual Indoor Rowing Championships

Feb 21, 2025 | 11:44 AM

The Alberta Indoor Rowing Championships are right around the corner.

Hosted by the Central Alberta Rowing Club, the one-day competition with be held on March 1, at the Abbey Centre in Blackfalds.

Club president Andy Nokes said it’s the 20th year they’ve hosted the event.

“It’s grown significantly over the years. Initially I think we only had six rowing machines for the racing at the start,” Nokes said. “I think there’s about five rowing clubs in Alberta that take part but it’s open to non-rowers so you don’t have to belong to a club.”

It is a standalone competition meant to give rowing athletes an opportunity to compete, since rowing on water is not an option throughout the winter in Canada. Once they move into the summer, there’s a number of rowing competitions or regattas held across the country.

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“It has two purposes. One, it’s an objective to work towards in terms of indoor training and two, it’s used to select athletes with high potential for the different categories,” he said.

“For the under 23’s, a group who performs well at these indoor rowing championships could be selected to move on to a rowing camp. It’s the same with the under 17 year olds. It’s really getting an idea about who are the provincial top-level athletes. At the same time, it’s a fun event.”

It’s also a sanctioned Rowing Canada event so many athletes will be using it to record official times.

The first race is at 9 a.m. with approximately 140 athletes set to take part in the longstanding event until the early afternoon.

With 15 rowing machines available, it will feature competitors from multiple age categories including 15 and under followed by the adult rowers.

Last year, they had a 70-year-old row in the competition. There will also be athletes from the University of Calgary and University of Alberta who will also compete.

The younger competitors will row up to 1,000 metres on the rowing machines and those who are a bit older up to the age of 27 they’ll row 2,000 metres, which takes anywhere between six to seven minutes.

In the rowing world, you become a master after the age of 27 and they’ll row up to 1,000 metres.

“Rowing for that length of time is pretty strenuous,” Nokes added.

Those interested in competing can register online at regattacentral.com or by sending an email to president.carc@gmail.com.

“I think we’ve been successful in running it and getting an increasing number of participants because it’s hard and this event makes it all worth while,” he said.

“Also, it’s a bit of a social occasion because the rowers from all the different clubs meet up, the coaches meet up, and there’s plenty of opportunity to chat with each other. It’s now a major event on the calendar.”

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