WORLD CLASS START
sponsored by Siemens

In September 2006, Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club prepared a proposal to host an ARA sponsored coach for a World Class Start programme based in Scotland. In early 2007 Clydesdale won this bid and a full time coach is now based at the club. The coach tested approximately 400 juniors from approx 35 schools in and around Glasgow and identified 8 who met the required standard. These juniors have now completed their capsize drill and are currently training with the coach every day. Clydesdale has invested in new boats, blades and other equipment to assist the programme and are helping with the coaching.

What is the aim of the World Class Start scheme?
The aim of the project is to identify exceptional individuals, both male and female, who posses the necessary physical characteristics to compete at the highest level in the sport of rowing. Potential athletes are usually between the ages of 15 and 18 although outstanding athletes outside these ages are also considered. Athletes coming onto the programme are then coached by a full-time, professionally qualified rowing coach to prepare them for the rigors of the GB team selection process. Rowing is Great Britain’s most successful Olympic sport and competing at this level is not for the faint-hearted; it is reckoned that only 1 in every 10,000 people have this ability.

In the past, British rowing has been lucky to find the likes of Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Mathew Pinsent who have between them won Olympic gold medals at six consecutive Olympics. We are now aiming to remove the luck and actively hunt out the next Redgraves and Pinsents.

Do I have what it takes?
There is no hiding from the fact that it is an extremely tough challenge to fight your way into the Great Britain Olympic rowing team. Not everyone has what it takes to succeed. What we do within the scheme is to first test you to see if you have the necessary physical attributes required for success based on some common characteristics of previous successful rowing Olympians. We then interview you if we feel you are highly likely to be successful based on your test results.

Then it's up to you to persuade us that you have what it takes to complete the training and work your way up into the team.

What are the tests?

 We take various anthropometric measurements, including height, weight and armspan.

 We record your arm and leg strength on a dynamometer.

 Finally we test your endurance with a test similar to a bleep test.

 The tests take about 40 minutes from start to finish.

Where are the tests carried out?

 Some tests are carried out during special visits to schools and universities normally when large groups are being tested.

 Other tests may be carried out at the National Rowing Academy and at Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club.

 All you need to bring is yourself and some sports kit.

Recruitment
The recruitment of athletes will be focused on schools and universities, although anyone with the necessary talent is eligible.

Do I need to have rowed before?
There is no requirement to have rowed before. We will teach you how to do that.

We are very keen to recruit talented non-rowers perhaps from another sport but who wish to become an Olympian in the gold medal winning sport of rowing. We have even recruited people who have no previous sports background but who through our tests have demonstrated exceptional natural strength and endurance.

Tell me about the coach?
Ross Malone –
Ross has been involved in the sport of rowing since 1976, winning several Scottish and National Championship medals along the way. He has competed internationally for Scotland at various European regattas and at Commonwealth level during which time he also coached on a part-time basis achieving success with club level athletes at the National Championships. Realizing that coaching requires as much, if not a greater commitment than that of athletes, he decided early in the millennium that to fulfill his ambition of coaching at the highest level, he needed to be doing it for a living and so made the switch from life behind a desk to life on the water. Ross firmly believes that Scotland is capable of producing ‘home-grown’ talent to compete with the very best and has made it his mission to find and develop new talent, and then supply the GB team with the finest rowers to come out of this small country.

Athletes
There will be a squad of between 10-12 athletes in the main World Class Start programme running here at Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club. The females have a minimum height of around 6 feet and the males 6 feet 5 inches. Initially all the atheletes are of school age, but testing will take place within Universities.

The athletes are trained to become Olympic champions around their work or studies. There is no pretence that the training involved is anything but hard core. No athlete expects Olympic success to come easy.

Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club
The club provides a first class training environment with gym facilities on site and access to top quality boats. In the near future, a new boathouse will be built to house our expanding fleet of boats.

The River Clyde offers a 5km rowable stretch of water all year round. There are many regattas held on the river, with Clydesdale Running four of them.

Additional Support
The Scottish Institute of Sport will probably supplement the club based training with specialist Strength and Conditioning coaching provided at a local training centre.

Monthly camps for World Class Start athletes incorporate lectures from recognized experts in the fields of psychology, physiology and nutrition.

Further Information:

More information can be found at the following links

http://www.oara-rowing.org
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/olympics_2012/6400255.stm