Callum Jones - World Record
Posted by Concept2 News on the 9th of July 2008
Callum Jones – is 12 years old attends Belvoir High School, Bottesford, and is a member of Newark Rowing Club. He started indoor rowing at Bingham Toot Hill School in September 2006. Within two months he had won a gold medal at the BIRC, followed by wins in the Welsh Indoor and English Championships. He joined Newark Rowing Club and has had some success with the club in regattas across the country in coxed quads, pairs and recently in single sculls. In 2007 indoor rowing he was bronze medallist at BIRC, took gold in the Welsh Championships and silver at the National IRC at Battersea. As part of continuing assessment of training progress, under the guidance of their coach Claire Parnell, each month the junior rowers at Newark row a timed 2km on the Concept2 ergo. During the spring Callum was achieving gradually improving times culminating in his unofficially breaking the under 13 years world record in June 2008.
On 7th July 2008 in order to attempt to have the record verified and ratified as an official record Callum rowed 2km at Concept2 headquarters in Nottingham. His clubmate Nick Parnell of Newark RC sat alongside him on an ergo to keep Callum focussed on the job and to giver him someone to chase. It was very close and very tense but the result was that Callum broke the world under 13 record by half a second in 7 mins 12.7secs. The record had been set by Marian Uroic of Croatia in 2004, Callum also bettered the British record by 2.8 secs which had been held for nine years by Rob Francis of Hereford RC.