Why the Diamonds of indoor rowing keep coming back to the British Rowing Indoor Championships

Fergus Mainland caught up with British Champions, Rod Chinn and Carol Woodward to learn all about the indoor rowing team with thousands of members and how preparation is going for BRIC

The power of indoor rowing is how easily it can connect rowers from all across the globe. There’s no requirement to haul a trailer of boats to a river or a purpose-built lake. Online leaderboards, competitions, and rankings serve as a catalyst to break down borders and unite rowers from countries all across the globe.

One example of this is The Diamonds Over Sixties Erging Group. The unofficial headquarters of this indoor rowing team are based near the south coast of England, home to a pair of British Champions who have also raced at numerous World Championships as well. Husband and wife, Rod Chinn and Carol Woodward, have been involved with indoor rowing, and Rod, who’s happily retired, has made it his mission to bring together people over the age of sixty who are all connected by indoor rowing.

“I’m absolutely delighted with it. It’s turned into a worldwide family of over-60s rowers,”

The Diamonds date back to 2015 when a group of British over-60s got together to attack the British 100km record in Cornwall, which they succeeded in doing. They formed a Facebook group so that they could communicate about the details. Once they had done the relay and the Facebook group was in place, they used it to recruit more people as the years went on, one of whom was Rod. A ‘diamond’ wedding anniversary is of course celebrating 60 years, a fitting name then for a this group of rowers.

The four-time British Champion joined in 2017 when he himself turned 60. Due to his experience helping out with the running of other indoor teams, Rod got involved with some of the admin, and fast forward eight years and he’s still at the helm. The Diamonds have grown enormously and now have more than 3000 members in 45 countries around the world, not bad for a team that started with a humble Facebook group.

“I’m absolutely delighted with it. It’s turned into a worldwide family of over-60s rowers,” explained Rod.

“I wouldn’t describe it as a team; I’d describe it as a worldwide movement. I get emails and messages every day from people, and I hear some amazing stories from people who say that being in the team helps to motivate them and improve their mental and physical health by communicating with people in the over-60s age bracket. Every day I hear stories that motivate me and want me to continue doing what I’m doing.”

As the team grew, so too did the group of people helping to coordinate and look after the thousands of members.

Carol and Row in the middle of the front row

Rod has enlisted the support of many over the years, but in particular, Peter Coles, Ian Chapman, and Martin Walmsley bring some incredibly useful technical skills to the table, helping with communication and competitions. The team also relies on Judy Dunne looking after efforts in the United States of America, and Kate Wyse, the Ladies Captain in the UK.

“One of the things we do is to keep people involved when they are injured, ill, or heaven forbid, suffering from the kind of things that people have in their older years. That’s kept people involved and still logging metres even if they aren’t as active as they used to be. Keeping people in the sport is something I’m very proud of what we do.
“It’s not just gaining new members but looking after our existing ones too. Martin, Ian, and Peter have put together some great competitions for people to participate in, but it also makes it very easy for me to see if people are not taking part, so that I or someone else who helps can communicate with them and check in with them. That’s a very important part of what we do.

“We’ve sadly had members who have lost spouses, and we’ve helped people and been there for them, and we will always be there for them when they choose to take part again.”

While Rod and Carol both enjoy connecting with rowers online, they both agree that nothing is better than greeting someone face to face in person at a competition.

“Meeting up in real life is the cream on the cake, it’s a wonderful experience meeting up with people that you’ve been getting to know on Facebook or email. We also have a chat forum, so it’s a great way for people on the C2 side of the team to stay in touch if they aren’t on Facebook so everyone has the opportunity to chat with everyone else. We also send out a weekly email update.

“All these people then get to meet up, and the highlight is, of course, the British Indoor Rowing Championships because we have people come from overseas. Some people have met up at the World Championships. The last one I did was in Prague, and that was the last in-person one, and I met up with lots of diamonds from other countries.

“We also have get-togethers here in the UK and in the US, and every now and then someone goes on holiday and our Facebook page has Diamond members meeting up with people in other countries. It seems like no one goes on holiday to another country without looking up The Diamonds members in other countries!

“A good example of this is a guy called Garry Aitchison. He travelled from New Zealand to the UK to look up his family, and who should meet him off the train from Heathrow airport but me! He stayed with me and my wife, Carol, for a few days and then met up with a few others who live within traveling distance from me.”

As the conversation steers towards BRIC, Rod shouts into the other room, “Have you won the world championships four or five times, dear?” “Five,” is the relaxed and nonchalant response from Carol, who has also set British and World records, and in Rod’s words, “She’s in double figures for British titles.”

“I love in-person racing, it’s a great opportunity to see everyone that you communicate with over social media and forums, and it’s a fabulous atmosphere,” said Carol.

The five-time world champion has built an enviable CV of achievements, but one of her standout memories comes from her first time racing at what was the British Indoor Rowing Championships, at the NIA in Birmingham.

“It always used to be mid-November, and the very first one I attended, I would never have thought about going. I didn’t think I was particularly competitive, but we did a bit of training, and Rod said, “Come on, let’s give it a go!” I won it, but I didn’t know I’d won. I was just walking off until someone told me to come and get my medal. So that’s how little I knew about it!”

Rod has similarly strong memories of that trip to the NIA.

“I finished last but one in the 45-49 Heavyweights with a time a long way outside of seven minutes for the 2000m,” he said.

“When I looked up at the screen for the speed of the people at the front, I thought, ‘Is this sport for me?’ I was there with Carol, and later in the day, she did her race, but she won. I was delighted and so proud of what she did. She was very encouraging with me as well, to say you can move on from here.

“A few years later, I was almost in tears when I won my first BRIC in the 60-64 age category. By then, it had moved to the velodrome, and I’d had a couple of runner-up positions but never won it. So, when I did win and with a championship record of 6:54, I think it was, that is my favourite memory but I can’t say my first British title was my favourite memory without mentioning my first ever BRIC as well.

Indoor rowing has taken Carol and Rod around the world to Prague, Washington, and many other places. For Rod, the World Championships in the capital of the United States was a special trip as it was an opportunity to race for his country.

“I thought, ‘Well, it’s the World Championships,’ so I thought I’d get myself some Great Britain kit since I’m representing GB. I’d always wanted to represent my country, and while I had played Aussie Rules Football, my ambitions had been to do it with running. I was Britain’s top 12-year-old at 400m, so I’m told, but I had dreamed about going on to run for GB at the Olympics or something like that. To have British kit on was wonderful, and it’s a very good memory.”

Training for BRIC is well underway, and Rod is having to train and manage The Diamonds alongside his latest venture, football.

“My training has gone particularly well in the last few weeks and I was a bit surprised by that because I’ve started playing in goal for an over sixties football team/ But, I’m finding that I’m still turning in some decent times for the sprint events such as the 100m and the 500m and given I won the 500m at BRIC last year, I’m looking forward to having another go this this year.

“I’m wondering if a slight change in my training means I might be able to go a little bit faster, but it’s nice to have that focus between now and December, especially having been inspired by the sprinters at the World Athletics Championships. I’ll be seeing how much quicker I can go. I’m getting towards the end of the age group, having just turned 68, so I think that rules out the 2000m. However, the British Championships is too good an event and too well organised to miss, so I’d like to be there and compete.

“I’m looking forward to defending my 500m title even though I’ll be up against the youngsters this year! Let’s face it, I must keep my hand in it because in two years I’ll be racing 70-74, where I’ll be the baby of the bunch! I’ll be back to doing the 2000m and the 500m and hopefully setting some more British records in the longer distances.”

The British Rowing Indoor Championships will take place 6-7 December 2025 at the NEC in Birmingham.