Latest update from British Rowing Tuesday 12th May 20

We The UK Government yesterday (11 May) published its strategy for recovering from coronavirus (“Our Plan to Rebuild”) which included a change to restrictions related to exercise effective from Wednesday 13 May. In line with our planning for a safe return to rowing, we have drawn the following conclusions (based on the rationale set out on our website available via the link below).:

Rowing in privately-owned rowing boats from publicly accessible waterway access or with permission of landowners is possible subject to:

• UK Government rules relating to social distancing being adhered to;
• Recreational use of the waterway being permitted by the relevant authority*; and,
• an appropriate risk assessment and accompanying measures being in place taking into account any normal, local safety rules or good practice.

At this stage, we recommend that British Rowing Affiliated Clubs should remain closed (current UK Government advice suggests leisure facilities may open no earlier than 4 July). Therefore, anyone launching rowing boats should do so from publicly accessible slipways/other waterway access or with the express permission of the landowner.

We do not believe that any rowing activity requiring a coaching/safety launch fits within the spirit of the current UK Government guidance and also British Rowing’s RowSafe guidance

Given the current situation and likely outlook, we have taken the decision to extend our suspension of Affiliated Competitions until 31 July – including the cancellation of the British Rowing Offshore Championships & Beach Sprints and British Rowing Junior Championships. We reasonably expect it is likely that this suspension will eventually be extended until at least the end of August.

* At the time of writing, the three major waterway authorities have differing restrictions – please see the full update via the button below for more detail.

We continue to monitor and review the latest advice from the UK Government and will update our advice, as necessary, as more information becomes available.

Please note that this advice relates to rowing in England. We continue to work closely with our colleagues from Scottish and Welsh Rowing to share good practice, however, the restrictions on the public now vary between England, Scotland and Wales. Latest advice for Scotland and Wales are available at the links below:

Scottish Rowing

Welsh Rowing

As of 12th May 2020:

Canal & River Trust: Recreational use allowed.

Environment Agency: Restrictions still in place.

Read the full update and rationale here