Gig Rowing flourishes at Cornwall School Games

More than 200 enthusiastic young sports stars from schools across Cornwall took part in the first Water Sports day last week, as part of the biggest school sporting event in the County – the 2013 Cornwall School Games 

Held on Wednesday 3rd July 2013, the Water Sports day saw students take part in Gig Rowing and Sailing at Mylor Harbour.

The Gig Rowing saw 21 crews competing in straight line races over four categories. Each competing crew had been linked with a local rowing club, who provided them with training sessions in the lead-up to the competition, crew selection and a coxswain on the day.

This is the third time that Gig Rowing has been included in the Cornwall School Games, and recognised alongside more mainstream sports. This year’s competition was fierce, with crews fighting right up to the finish line:

Year 7-9 Open – 1st Mullion, 2nd Fowey, 3rd Penryn
Year 7-9 Girls – 1st Mullion, 2nd Tretharras, 3rd Bude
Year 10+11 Open – 1st Mullion, 2nd Saltash, 3rd Fowey
Year 10+11 Girls – 1st Mullion, 2nd Looe

Well done to all of the competitors and club coxswains for their hard work.

The 2013 Cornwall School Games was organised in partnership by Cornwall Sports Partnership and British Rowing, and relied on eight clubs loaning gigs and equipment, as well as volunteers who helped to run the day.

The event ran smoothly, with Falmouth Gig Club volunteers running the racing with support from the CPGA, and several other club volunteers coordinating from the land. The following clubs lent boats and equipment: Falmouth, St.Agnes, Flushing & Mylor, Nankersey, Roseland, Cadgwith, Helford and Devoran. A special thank you to Greg Oldrieve, Nick & Jamie Maxted, Peter Fisher, Nicola Hazell, Kate Bourn, Milos Stankovic, Cameron Boyle, Shaun Austin, Kris Jane, Kev Sellar, James Rogers and Dave Merrick, the club coxswains and boat towers. 

“What an amazing day for young sports stars in Cornwall,” said Mike Thomas, Director at the Cornwall Sports Partnership. “After the success of last year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, it’s a great opportunity to build on existing work in school sport and to showcase the positive impact sport can have on young people.  A lot of work goes into organising these games and I would like to thank all of those people involved in making today a great success.”

British Rowing’s South West Area Participation Manager, Rhiannon Halliday, added: “It’s been great to work with Cornwall Sports Partnership again on this event – Rachel Knott did a great job of co-ordinating the competition, which ran smoothly on the day. The gig rowing community really came together to make this happen and it’s great to see clubs working with each other to form school teams for this unique event.”