Who needs water to row?
Ontario Ergometer Championships challenge athletes to exceed personal bests
Call it a “dry run” for rowers, the ultimate dry run.
There’s nothing like water when it comes to putting rowers to the test and challenging them to exceed personal bests.
This time of year, when you just can’t train on the water because an icebreaker would fare much better than an eight, there’s nothing like going all out practising indoors on a rowing machine.
The 31st annual Ontario Ergometer Championships take place Saturday at Ridley College in St. Catharines, where upwards of 700 competitors are expected to take part. With participants ranging in age from 13 to 86, the one-day event at the Ridley College Field House is the largest 2,000-metre competition in Canada.
While all the action takes place indoors, that’s about the only thing that screams “landlubber” about a competition event run by the Ridley College and Ridley Graduate boat clubs. Organizer Nancy Storrs points out “the ergs” is the final winter event for rowers preparing to hit the water for their spring seasons.
“Some of these athletes will be trying out for the Canadians junior national team later this summer,” the Ridley Graduate Boat Club head coach said.
Ergs are winter training and the closest thing to rowing on the water, and they also can be quite an eye opener for the participants.
“Having that monitor really tells you whether you’re working hard or not,” Storrs said with a chuckle. “So people have to work hard.”
A lever on the machine can be adjusted to simulate different water conditions.
“It’s almost like a bicycle chain,” Storrs said. “It makes it lighter or heavier is an easy way of wording it.
“Guys tend to row with a heavier load than girls do.”
She compared adjusting an erg to rigging a boat before a race at a regatta, “whether it’s a headwind or whatever.”
“If you’re into a headwind in rowing, you tend to lighten things up, so that’s where they could lighten the lever,” Storrs said. “In erg racing you can’t change it during a race, you can set it the way you want it at the beginning.”
Unlike the real thing, where there are doubles, fours and eights, there are only singles in erg rowing. However, two machines can be linked together using sliders.
“We do that when we’re getting ready for the water season, so people can learn to row together,” she said.
Achieving the highest score isn’t the be-all and end-all in indoor rowing, said Storrs, who uses erg training to coach proper technique.
“I want them to row well,” she said. “I’ve said to athletes, ‘You can get a score but is that going to help you on the water?’
“Then they start buying into making better technique.”
Rowers are coming from as far as Ottawa, with more than half of the 725 entries from Niagara.
Once again the biggest category will be the junior high school division. There are 78 boys and 120 girls registered.
Action gets underway at 8 a.m. and continues until 4 p.m., and admission is free to spectators.
More than 650 high school students and masters competitors will race against the clock in the morning and early afternoon, giving way to club rowers.
Eight of the Canadian champions from a regatta last month in Toronto will be in St. Catharines this weekend trying to better their times .
Brock rowers dominated the open events in 2017 and they’re back looking to continue being the top hands in indoor rowing.
The entry deadline has closed but latecomers may be accepted at the door if openings are available. For more information contact Nancy Storrs at 905-688-5292.