SEATTLE, Jan. 16, 2006 Indoor rowing world record holder Luanne Mills, 67, of Seattle and European Indoor Rowing Champion, Robert Meenk, 44, of Olympia will join an expected 250 indoor rowers of all ages, including several local Olympians, at the Seattle Centers Center House (www.seattlecenter.com ) Saturday, Jan. 28 for Ergomania! the Northwest Indoor Rowing Championships.
Sponsored by the Seattle Center, Concept2 and the George Pocock Rowing Foundation, Ergomania! is in its 19th year and is one of 20 indoor regattas in North America that serve as qualifiers for CRASH-B World Indoor Rowing Championships, Feb. 25 in Boston. The public can view 26 indoor races from 9am 4pm on the main floor of the Center House and can participate throughout the day in free learn-to-row clinics taught by Seattles top elite rowers.
In addition to local Olympians, collegiate and high school rowers, participants will include local masters-level rowers Mills, a world indoor record holder and four-time member of the U.S. Indoor Rowing Team, and Meenk, the current European Indoor Rowing Champion in his age category and a two-time member of the U.S. Indoor Rowing Team.
At Decembers European indoor championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, Meenks 2,000 meter time of 6:27.1 earned a gold medal in the mens age 40 49 category. Mills, whose 2,000 meter time of 8:00.0 is the worlds best time for lightweight women aged 65 69, won a silver at the Copenhagen regatta.
"I was raised before Title IX provided organized competitive opportunities for women," said Mills, a retired Seattle school teacher who started rowing at age 46 as a part of a Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study to assess the impact of aerobic activity on colorectal cancer prevention (http://www.fhcrc.org/donating/heroes/participants/luanne.html ).
Mills now follows a training regimen directed by USRowing national team coaches Mike Teti and Tom Terhaar, logging between 10,000 and 12,000 meters per day, six days a week on the rowing ergometer. "Indoor rowing has given me an opportunity to expand my horizons athletically and connect with people all over the world," she said. "My doctor suggested that I should plan on a long life of rowing. My mom lived to be just over 97. I want to keep rowing until Im at least 99."
Meenk, an Olympia real estate agent who competes for Sound Rowers, began rowing on an indoor rower in 1999 to stay fit. He now participates in up to 15 open water races a year including the Bainbridge Marathon, a 26-mile circumnavigation of Bainbridge Island on Puget Sound. "I started competing at indoor regattas because I was enjoying all of the pain and suffering of training - but without the benefits," said Meenk.
In 2005 over 200 indoor rowers competed in Ergomania! including several local Olympians, and many athletes from local colleges, high schools and masters level competitors representing local health and fitness clubs.
Based on pre-established qualifying times, winners from selected events at the 2006 regatta will receive airfare to Boston and entry fees paid to compete in the CRASH-B World Indoor Rowing Championships at the Agganis Arena on the Boston University campus.
Since its inception in 1988, the indoor regatta series has evolved from a winter-time competition for collegiate rowers whose rivers had frozen over, to an international competition with popularity among recreational athletes who have never been in a rowing shell, to collegiate level rowers and Olympic champions. In 2005 over 10,500 indoor rowers participated in 50 indoor regattas throughout North America. There are 115 indoor rowing regattas in 31 countries world-wide.