English IRC History
The English Indoor Rowing Championships started life as the North of England Indoor Rowing Champs. It was devised by Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club as a means of hosting an event that wasn't on the water after several regattas had to be cancelled due to terrible weather. It was a success almost straight away - it was started in 1998 and there weren't that many events back then. The first event was staged at the club house with 10 begged and borrowed ergos. There were about 100 people competing from various local clubs and despite the rather cramped conditions, there was a fantastic friendly atmosphere and a great time was had by all, this has become the hallmark of the event and despite moving venues several times, has been retained. The event had been planned as a one-off but there was so much interest in another event that the Club felt obliged to repeat it the next year. Times and things have changed considerably since then. The event is now in the National Cycling Centre (NCC) in Manchester and over 700 people from cross the whole country entered the last event in January 2008.
The event has been staged every year since its inception in 1998. Every year the team organising look to improve the event for its competitors. The venue changed from the rowing club to the local school sports hall and from there to the NCC which was used for the Commonwealth Games in Manchester and is in the shadow of the Commonwealth Stadium - now Eastlands, used by Manchester City Football Club. The name changed several years ago and reflects the prestige and size that the event now is.
People
Rebecca Caygill - Member of Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club since 1997 and is an active single sculler. She joined the committee in 1998, as Events Coordinator and since then has jointly organised both the Regatta and the Indoor Rowing Championships with Matt Rostron and Ian John in the early days and Ian John along with other club members latterly. Rebecca has competed in the indoor event on and off over the years with some success on occasions.
Some travel the most amazing distances and we are aware of some people who have changed airports so that they returned from for their skiing trip from Glasgow to Manchester, because the event clashed with their annual holiday. We have also helped to launch some stars onto the circuit - the Armley Indoor Rowing team started at our event, and some have gone on to become British and World Champions. Also the infamous Royce Banks and his team of power lifters who challenged and lost to the all-star Leander team at Great Marlow School in the 100,000 metre challenge, and then famously beat them at the return bout at a ballroom just outside Wigan on a wet and windy Sunday afternoon. To see these 18 stone guys taking part in the popular ergo breaking races (500 Metres Dash), bending, stretching and tying the machines in knots, is great fun, as long as you can stand well back and admire the strength of the ergoes to withstand all the punishment they are receiving.
In 2006, Steve Redgrave phoned to ask if he could bring his squad of Liverpool8 who were being filmed for a television programme, following complete beginners from one of the country's more deprived areas, attempt to qualify for Henley Royal Regatta. It was great to see some of them win medals, which for some of them was the only thing they had ever won.
Another site worth watching is the arrival of Nigel Mayglothling with 2 minutes to go before the first race, as he removes his jacket, puts on his headset and spends 8 hours endlessly talking, cajoling, screaming, encouraging, laughing, bullying, providing background information on competitors, helping people to relax and making it an enjoyable experience, he is worth his weight in gold and Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club are very grateful to Nigel for his support and input to the event.
Event Categories
We offer events to Men, Women, light weight and not so light weight with categories for, Open, 30+, to 70+ (2000 meters for all). We also have events for Juniors aged 12 - 15 ( 2 - 5 mins respectively). We have the 500 meter race for the following categories Open,30+, 50+ junior 18 Boys and Girls lightweight and heavyweight, also Boys, Girls junior 16,14, and 12 ( but no weight category for these) there are also Team events for men, women, mixed and Juniors.