The 2006 Concept2 British Indoor Rowing Championship will be the sixteenth year of the championship and the sixth time at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. Although today it is firmly established as one of Britain's biggest indoor sporting events, the roots of the championship stretch back just over a decade to very humble beginnings indeed...

The first event took place in 1991 as the then Model B Indoor Rower was attracting a following outside of the core rowing market. Enthusiasts training on the machines in gyms and clubs wanted an outlet for their new found abilities and rowers, mirroring the origins of the first indoor regattas in the USA, wanted an event to reflect the efforts they were making on the machine as part of their own off-water training programmes.

First held in Henley-on-Thames, the event's growth has been both strong and consistent, outgrowing four venues and for the last six years it was held at the Rivermead Leisure Complex in Reading. The first event attracted just 200 competitors - the 2001 championships will hopefully boast closer to three thousand, with a good selection of international competitors.

The event's original distance was 2,500 metres though it reverted to the Olympic rowing regatta distance of 2,000 metres in 1995 to reflect the fact that virtually all of the world's national rowing teams (and indeed some squads from other sports) were utilising the 2,000 metre distance on the Concept 2 Indoor Rower as part of their team testing and selection programmes.

In the ten years since the first strokes were pulled, the event has attracted some of the top names in sport. Redgrave, Pinsent, Searle, Cracknell, Coode and Foster from men's rowing and Bishop and Batten from women's; Olympic swimmers Moorhouse and Brew; rugby legends Ripley and Utley; decathlon hope Macey and a host of other top performers.

More importantly, it has grown as the sport of indoor rowing has grown and is now a genuinely major sporting event in the calendar for hundreds of devoted indoor rowing enthusiasts, who range in age from 10 to 90. It's hugely popular both because it's tough and because it's unique in that its format offers the chance for anyone to compete in the same arena with, and even alongside, the greats such as Redgrave and Pinsent.

Already an institution with it's own history and legends, the British Indoor Rowing Championship will continue to grow and provide a unique, testing and highly competitive event for all followers of indoor rowing.