February is traditionally the month for a Boston-based big hammer finish to the indoor rowing season.
It's been that way for more than 30 years, with indoor competitors and winter landlocked rowers, either desperate for a way to measure their fitness levels or eager to engage in a day of personal torture, flocking to Boston for a final pull before the real rowing season begins. The premier event has been the C.R.A.S.H.-B Sprints in Boston, which started in 1982 and served as the World Indoor Rowing Championships since a few years after that.
In addition to heaps of erg events run mainly by clubs to let area rowers get a full pull in a competitive environment, several events have served as qualifiers for the C.R.A.S.H.-B., the largest of which was the Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints in Alexandria.
This year, the indoor Worlds move to Alexandria, Virginia, hosted by the Erg Sprints. The expanded two-day Erg Sprints is being co-sponsored by FISA and USRowing, and will be held in partnership with the T.C. Williams Crew, which has run the annual Erg Sprints. The racing will feature the traditional sprint and distance Erg Sprints events, with the 2k events being run as the newly designated FISA World Indoor Rowing Championships, and will also include marathon and 20-minute events.
The newly minted 2018 Erg Sprints | World Indoor Rowing Championships starts tomorrow in Alexandria, VA, while the C.R.A.S.H.-B Sprints will be run Feb. 25 in Boston University's Agganis Arena.
"We're really excited about this event," said Erg Sprints race organizer Lisa Zickar. "We're so thrilled to have been asked to be part of this and it's going to be really exciting to have the World Championship events and be able to keep our events because they are so popular.
"Spreading it over two-days gives us the opportunity to give full weight to the World Rowing Events and still keep our events traditionally run as a booster for T.C. Williams Crew," Zickar said.
The event, will be held in the gym at T.C. Williams High School and will have over 2,500 competitors representing 23 countries, including athletes of every age category and ability.
The concept of having a designated FISA World Rowing Indoor Championships follows the 2017 World Games in Wroclaw, Poland, and is now expected to be held annually in different host cities.
In a December 14 press release officially announcing the race, FISA president Jean-Christophe Rolland said the event is the result of the popularity and growth in indoor rowing worldwide.
"This partnership is designed to put indoor rowing exactly where it should be on the international sports map. Participation in indoor rowing at an elite and competitive level has been skyrocketing in recent years and it is time to give the sport an official championship status,” Rolland said. “Indoor rowing continues to break new ground in innovation and World Rowing is very pleased to be joining forces.”
Peter Dreissigacker, co-founder of Concept2, the company that invented the rowing machines used in indoor training and competition, said Concept2 is excited to be part of the new event and to be partnered with World Rowing.
“We at Concept2 are excited to support a new championship format, moving the event to different locations and showcasing a truly international sport. With World Rowing on board we hope to have the participation of the best athletes from all corners of the globe.”
Concept2 British division spokesperson Alex Dunne said Thursday Concept2 will continue to support the the C.R.A.S.H.–B and other US indoor events, but believes the FISA-designated championship will help further the growth of international indoor rowing.
"C.R.A.S.H.-B has been a massively significant race in the development of rowing for the last 30 years, but there comes a point when the question is, should the world event be in the same city every year, or should it start to go around the world? So, the plan is to just move it from city to city like any other world championship each year.
"So, this year we go to Alexandria and next year we go somewhere else, and that is to be determined in the next week or so. And then the event will move again. So, take it to Europe, take it other parts of the world and just let the sport flourish in that way. C.R.A.S.H.-B is still a big event like many other indoor races in the US and Concept2 is supporting the event next weekend."
According to FISA spokeswoman Colleen Orsmond, the plan at the moment is for the World Championships event to stay in North American next year.
"We haven't yet confirmed the location for 2019," Orsmond said. "The intention for 2019 and 2020 is to partner with an existing event. Next year will probably still be in North America and then looking to take it to Europe in 2020. From 2021 on we would follow a full bidding process to attribute the event."
While the new World Indoor Rowing Championships has become the new official international championship for indoor rowing, the C.R.A.S.H.-B Sprints, the big stage for the erg season for the past 36-years, is scheduled to go on as it always has.
"We're excited to be hosting the historic C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints once again in Boston this year with over 1300 athletes ages 12-95," C.R.A.S.H.-B. Regatta Commodore Amanda Milad. We look forward to seeing our athletes in Boston - welcoming new athletes, and welcoming back ones who have been coming to C.R.A.S.H.-B. for decades."
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