Prostate cancer survivor competes at the British Rowing Indoor Championships after eight months of indoor rowing
The man who beat prostate cancer will be racing at the British Rowing Indoor Championships after only eight months on the rowing machine
Fifteen years ago Simon Lord had surgery for prostate cancer. Now on his 39th wedding anniversary, he’s competing at the British Rowing Indoor Rowing Championships after just eight months of indoor rowing.
It’s a journey that began in a local gym in New South Wales. Simon was down under, visiting his daughter back in the spring of this year and he hasn’t looked back since.
Simon started his indoor rowing with one or two advantages. Firstly he’s a personal trainer, so he’s used to pushing on in the gym. Secondly, he’s a recent convert to road cycling and has completed some big challenges including riding all three tarmac ascents of the famous Tour de France cycling mountain Mont Ventoux this summer.
This year’s British Rowing Indoor Championships will take place 6-7 Birmingham at the world-famous NEC and entries will close midday on 25 November. Simon is competing in the colours of Prostate Cancer UK to celebrate fifteen years since his diagnosis and surgery for the most common cancer in men, killing over 12,000 each year.
Saturday’s racing over 2000m and 500m will see the GB Rowing Team travel north and test themselves against the very best indoor rowers from across the UK and around the world. Super Sprint Sunday is already set to be a record breaking entry as the short, sharp racing combines with the eagerly anticipated relays.
Simon will be racing in the always popular Masters 65-69 Open 2000m category.
Simon’s introduction to rowing happened entirely on a whim. “I had done a chunky weights workout on a very warm and humid day and I needed to cool down before heading back to my daughter’s house,” explained Simon.
“There were three newish RowErgs next to the area I’d been using so I sat on one and, far from cooling down, I decided to see what I could do with it.
“Each time I went back to the gym, I challenged myself that bit more and found that I really enjoyed each session. “During a stop-over on my return flight I found a RowErg close by my home on eBay and bought it!
“I had to combine my cycling with rowing in the build up to my Mont Ventoux trip but found the indoor rower was a great way to exercise when I was short of time and gave me more power on the steepest sections of the climbs we were doing in training.”
Join Simon at the British Rowing Indoor Championships, which will take place 6-7 December 2025 at the NEC in Birmingham. Entries close tomorrow!
