Rowers provide charity cash boost

03 December 2007

University of Bath rowers raised hundreds of pounds for charity and set an unofficial record in Saturday’s marathon fund-raising effort.

Ten rowers completed a 100km relay row in just four hours 59 minutes and 14 seconds. It is believed their effort is a British Universities ‘small mixed team’ record – confirmation of this is expected soon.

A further group of 24 rowers covered the same distance in a little over six hours.

Their efforts have already yielded almost £500 for the Stroke Association, and you can still contribute via the Justgiving.com website by clicking here.

The oarsmen had to brave torrential rain, gusty winds and hail to complete their charity challenge.

“It went really, really well,” said Joanne Jarrett, secretary of the University of Bath Boat Club and a Mathematics and Physics student at the University. “Bath was really busy on Saturday, so we generated a lot of interest in what we were doing,” she added.

The 10 rowers participating in the record-breaking row were Ali Gregory (Sports Engineering), Tom Thornton (Pharmacy), Jon Sliney (Sports and Exercise Science), Claire McMahon (French and Italian), Heather Naylor (Mathematics), Fred Dahlmann (Management), Kieran Philips (Economics with International Development), Rob Baker (Natural Sciences), Jemma Cropper (Coach Education and Sports Development) and Stephanie De Smedt (Mechanical Engineering)

The rowers used a pair of rowing machines, placed just outside Bath’s historic Pump Room, for the two charity challenges.

The money raised will go to the Stroke Association as part this week’s Siemens Stroke for Stroke campaign.  Siemens, the high performance partner of GB Rowing, are encouraging people to sign-up to row 10km at their gyms this week. They hope this will cover a total distance equivalent to rowing around the world – 40,076km – raising £200,000 for the Stroke Association to fund vital research.

You can find out more about the Siemens Stroke for Stroke week  by clicking here.

The University of Bath has one of the leading university sports departments in the UK. Under its Team Bath brand, its success is based on the expertise and dedication of staff, and its excellent facilities, used by the community and Olympic medal winners alike.

Members of the media who require further information can contact the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd on (01225) 383518 or see the Team Bath website.

Pictured are: The 10 rowers after completing their challenge/the final time for the 100km effort/Rob Baker in action during the challenge.

Posted: Monday 3rd December 2007

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