The History of Borth Rowing Club
Longboat rowing in Borth began in Summer 2000, with locals being invited to try out the sport by founder member and former Aberystwyth club rower, Lyn Rees, in a longboat borrowed from the Aberystwyth club. In early Spring 2001 the group became a club, introduced a constitution, entered our first league races and began training a mixed team for the Ireland-Wales "Celtic Challenge", which we entered in May 2002.
The Club Today
The club's main aim, as stated in the constitution, is "to provide facilities for rowing as both a recreational and competitive based activity promoted in the interest of social welfare and increased levels of fitness and skill for the benefit of the inhabitants of the said area." We're doing all this today - but not brilliantly, yet! So we're working on a development plan to increase members, skills and winnings! Part of this plan in to increase the club from 11 to 15 women, 7 to 15 men and 0 to 5 juniors!
We row every weekend (on Saturday and Sunday), near high tide and go out in rotation using our own Celtic longboat (the old one went home), kept at the Leri Boatyard in Ynyslas by kind permission of Don Fullerlove - thanks Don!
For those who just want to row for fun, that's fine - please come and join us. For those wanting to be considered for a team there will be additional team nights from March onwards. Quite a few of us do circuit training and/or other fitness training, but you'll also improve fitness through rowing.
Funding and Fundraising
Membership fees of £30 per annum are paid by all members and these are essential to pay the ongoing costs of boat maintenance, club insurance and league insurance.
The club has had generous donations from Borth Carnival Committee following Carnival and received money from a sea sport fund held by Borth community council. Our kit was donated by M&M Sports. We received a grant of £5,757 from the Sports Council, which funded 80% of the costs of buying our own Celtic longboat, oars, trailer and lifejackets in early 2003. We also benefit from the generosity of our sponsors - including the Friendship Inn, L & R Construction and Translations Group - thank you all for your support.