With lockdown upon us last month, British Rowing took the unprecedented decision to make the British Indoor Rowing Championships (BRIC) a virtual, online event. This has made it the biggest BRIC event ever with over 2,500 rowers from 41 countries competing over two days – Sat 5th to Sun 6th December.
On Saturday, the 2,000 metre races were held, followed by the sprints, junior and team races on Sunday. Port Isaac’s Club Captain Tony Cook gallantly entered the men’s 55-59 age category – with outstanding result! In a field of 38 entrants Tony finished third, gaining a highly respectable time of just 6:37.7! First was Kent Patterson of Sweden, with Norwegian Ole Kristian Karlsen taking second. That made Tony the fastest British rower in the race, beating Peter Clowes of the RAF by 2.3 seconds! This topped Tony’s fourth place in the Dorset Indoor Rowing open (all ages) two weeks ago, where he was the fastest over-40 competitor in a time of just 6:40.4.
With the Port Isaac Rowing Club unable to get out on the water this season because of the global pandemic, and having had a knee operation in March, Tony used indoor rowing as his rehab and main form of exercise.
Tony says, “As I saw my improvements, I decided to enter a couple of competitions to see how I compared with others”.
Entering the BRIC and the DIRO competitions has proved extremely worthwhile. Port Isaac Rowing Club and its community send their huge congratulations to Tony for such an epic effort, especially following recent injury and knee operation. Well done – you are an inspiration to us all Tony!
Thank you Emma Miller for this information and pictures 
