Rows on Britannia and a race across the Indian Ocean: How Mark Redgrove got to the British Rowing Indoor Championships
Mark Redgrove has done some exceptional things on the rowing machine and now he’s got his sights set on the British Rowing Indoor Championships, as he explains to Fergus Mainland
Mark Redgrove loves a bonkers challenge. Fortunately for him, the British Rowing Indoor Championships is the perfect chance to get stuck into an epic test. While serving in the Royal Navy, ships were often stocked with Concept2 machines to keep servicemen fighting fit while traversing the globe. Mark’s involvement with indoor rowing was forged on the decks of HMS Invincible, and it’s carried him all the way to racing onboard The Royal Yacht Britannia with Olympic Champions and a star-studded list of rugby legends.
Mark’s next challenge will be racing the double, 2000m and 500m at the British Rowing Indoor Championships. A race across the Indian Ocean and a relay raising funds for Motor Neurone Disease have helped shape his approach and mindset for his first-ever BRIC.
“This is the first time in the arena, and that’s the excitement and the joy of participation,” said Mark.
“For me, the training has created motivation. I’m nearly 64, and the high-impact stuff isn’t so good. The rowing machine is perfect for that. If you put some good music on, it’s what you make of it.”
Mark and his wife, Florence, currently live in the south of France and will be making the trip to debut at BRIC next weekend. The two of them have an erg in their home gym and have found a huge amount of joy from training alongside each other.
“We’ve gone through an eight-week training programme to demonstrate to her how to get through it. She was really interested in it, so we’ve been doing that again prior to the championships. Unfortunately, she’s strained an intercostal muscle, and she’s been resting, but she’s now moving without pain and hopefully light training soon.
“She doesn’t particularly like the training, but she likes it when it’s finished, like most people! She falls off the machine and proudly records her erg data for the day! When she’s happy, that makes me happy, and if you can do those things together, then it’s great fun.”
Florence is Belgian, and the trip to Birmingham is a great opportunity for the two of them to travel and see different parts of the UK. There’s even talk of having similar adventures to the French Championships and other events, but that’s still in the planning stage at the moment.
“If you suggested to me doing some kind of crazy challenge, I’m probably up for it because that’s what I do. It’s always a pleasure to push yourself. There aren’t many things that put me outside my comfort zone. I’m not necessarily going to be a champion at everything I do, but I’m not scared to put myself out there and give things a go.
Motivation for me is to stay fit and healthy, although nothing is guaranteed in this life. But hopefully, you’ll have a better quality of life. As you get older, a lot of these things, and people around you disappear far too early off this earth for one reason or another, and you ask ‘Why them and not me? What have I got to do to stop that?’ It’s all a lottery in the end.”
In 2023, Mark orchestrated the Doddie Aid Britannia Regatta, raising funds for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. Alongside the likes of Sarah Winckless, Mark Beaumont, and Rob Wainwright, teams onboard the Royal Yacht Britannia raced against others across the country to raise money to help find a cure for motor neurone disease, in memory of Doddie Weir, the British and Irish Lion.
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“A good mate of mine was also in the Royal Navy. He served as a Yachty on the Britannia. He said to me, having done the previous two years of Doddie Aid, wouldn’t it be a good idea if we organised a rowing event and did it on the Britannia? He knew Rob Wainwright and started chatting to him. He was able to get Rob onside, and through his contacts with Britannia, it all came off. We had eight ergs on the quarter deck of the Britannia, as well as the TV crews and celebrities. It was a great day.
“Stupidly, they arranged a Burns Night the night before the row, but that’s all part of it!
“In my team, I had Dame Katharine Grainger, Dougie Vipond, one of Doddie’s family members, and a couple of us Navy guys as well. It was such a pleasure to do something like that. We did alright, finishing second or third.
It’s a horrible disease, but they are using their leverage as personalities to raise awareness and without a doubt, Doddie and then Rob [Burrow], who have given up the last moments of their lives to share with the greater public, to make it better for those who may have to take the same path in the future. It’s a brilliant thing to be a part of.”
Participating from further afield were a couple of entries from The Diamonds Over Sixties Erging Group. Mark was introduced to the online community after posting his scores on the Concept2 website, and the team captain, Rod Chinn, jumped at the chance to get Mark involved with the team.
Since then, Mark has helped facilitate online racing for this global community both internally and against other teams.
“That group is well worth a mention. There are thousands of them globally. Rod and his colleagues have invented an equaliser so there’s an algorithm that takes into account your performance, your age and whether you are male or female. That’s brilliant, it’s a motivator in itself. It takes time to run these things, and Rod is a great guy, loves to chat!
“For the Doddie row, he was rowing somewhere in a village hall, and we had a team from Ireland involved as well. If it gets people off their arses and into gear, then it’s great.”
For Mark, the online community is a massive part of what keeps him engaged with the sport. Community has always been central to him, and it dates back to racing HMS Invincible across an ocean.
“HMS Invincible had two or three Concept2 machines on the ship for one of our tours in the Far East. This was at the beginning of the 1990s, and there was a lot of training going on. The rowing machine was another level, and there was a group of us that got into it.
“We decided to row across the Indian Ocean. When we were in Singapore, we were going to go across the Gulf States, and we had this 24-hour timetable for people to sign up and do their half-hour stints. We got across the Indian Ocean quicker than the ship did!
“When we were doing the half-hour stints, I was doing 8000m every time. Sometimes you were woken up at 03:20 to row and at 03:30, knocking out 8000m then going back to bed. I can’t do that kind of pace anymore, I can look to around 7:30-7:40 in the 2000m, and that will be a good result for me.”
Join Mark and Florence at the British Rowing Indoor Championships, which will take place 6-7 December 2025 at the NEC in Birmingham. Entries close tomorrow!
