Rowing and Sport Participation Biography continued

My wife bought me a birthday present a couple of years later of half a dozen individual sessions with a Personal Trainer who introduced me to some very tough interval sessions on the indoor rowing machines, amongst some other tough pieces on other equipment.  I also used to do regular spin classes.

Not long after that, they started to have some crew classes on the indoor rowing machines at the gym.  These created some noise and atmosphere up on the gym floor, and drew me in, seeming very similar to the group atmosphere in the spin classes.  This opened up the prospect of racing against other people, especially over the classic Olympic rowing distance of 2000m.  This began to give me more focus to my training and I began to explore the training advice contained on the Concept2 websites (British and American) and the discovery of this whole hierarchy of competitive events.  During this period, I’d never received any input into the proper technique and set off with a large number of bad habits.  The Crew classes faded away very quickly, but I’d now got the bug.

In terms of times to beat for a 2000m row, 7 minutes for a very fit adult male is a yardstick or benchmark.  Once I’d received some technique advice from trying out water based rowing, I was able to shave 7 seconds off my PB, which is now 6.58 (in 2005).  I am very pleased with this mark, given my joint problems, but am still trying to see if I can improve still further.

I have now received technical coaching from Bradford Amateur Rowing Club, having dabbled in water based rowing for a year and a half and an organisation called Technique2 (the latter directly linked to Concept2).  It became very apparent to me when following my own training programme in the gym that virtually every one else who ever gets on an indoor rowing machine does so with incorrect technique.  It was then that the idea of training other people in the correct use of the machines came to me, and I now have a Coaching certificate from Concept2 and am exploring further possibilities of a Crew Class Training Certificate from Concept2.  I have applied for membership of the Register of Exercise Professionals.               
       
I currently work part-time in Children’s Social Care in Leeds.  I have undertaken sessional work within Social Care but am now in the process of setting up my own enterprise as a personal indoor rowing trainer.

Ted O’Sullivan
October 2007