Author: Pat Kiely

Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England will compete in a brand new rowing competition next year with the introduction of the Home International Rowing Beach Sprints, an exciting addition to the rowing calendar and one which helps to grow the pathway of this emerging international discipline across the home nations.

The introduction of a new Beach Sprints format has been approved by the HIR General Management Committee with the support of British Rowing, Rowing Ireland, Scottish Rowing and Welsh Rowing.

Scotland will host the inaugural HIR Beach Sprints on Saturday 20 August 2022 with teams of 4 junior athletes and 4 senior athletes competing across the day in coastal solos and mixed doubles. The 2023 event will see the introduction of men’s and women’s doubles.

The Beach Sprint format starts with a sprint on the beach of between 10m and 50m. After entering the boat, the boat slaloms around two buoys then turns around a third buoy at 250m and rows straight back to the beach before one of the rowers exits the boat and runs to the finish line.

More details are available in the download below.

Nominate your club volunteer of the year now! Rowing Ireland wants to celebrate all the hard work that our clubs, members and volunteers do for our sport throughout the year.

The winning male and female volunteer of the year will both win a gift voucher for the Green Blades shop and a certification of recognition.

Nominations close on Wednesday 15th December at 5pm.

The winners will be announced on the 17th of December.

You can nominate through the form below.

A Zoom EGM will be held on 12^th December at 10 am to allow for the deferral of the rule changes EGM to 20^th February 2022 at 10 am, members can register now through the form below.

Please note that there will be one vote per club.

Registration will close on Friday 10th December at 12 pm

Sport Ireland is currently running a safeguarding audit of all clubs, in all sports that have members aged under 18.

Rowing Ireland will be facilitating the hosting of this audit starting on the 17^th of December for 8 weeks. This safeguarding audit is compulsory for all Rowing Ireland clubs that have junior members.

Communications has been forwarded to all affiliated club secretaries and club child welfare officers, with information regarding the audit.

To further assist clubs in engaging with this audit we intend to run information webinars on

• Thursday 9^th December starting at 7 pm – Register Here
• Tuesday 14^th December starting at 7 pm – Register Here

The Sport Ireland Safeguarding Audit Club Self-Assessment 2021 – 2022 is compulsory for all clubs North and South that are affiliated with Rowing Ireland and have registered junior members in their clubs.

Rule Changes EGM – Proposal to defer EGM to Feb 20^th 2022

In accordance with the Articles, our current four-yearly rule change meeting must take place before the 31^st December 2021.

Due to the lateness of the regatta season and the considerable amount of work which is being concluded on the Constitution, the Board believes there is insufficient time to consult with clubs and finalise the rule changes before Christmas.

The Board now proposes that a 15-minute Zoom EGM will be held on 12^th December at 10 am to allow for deferral of the rule changes EGM to 20^th February 2022 at 10 am. 

Should this proposal fail, the clubs will not have an opportunity to propose changes to the rules of racing for the next four years and any changes will only be possible as temporary rule changes proposed by the Board.