Rowing club interest soars after Olympics success

Buy photos » More youngsters will now want to follow in the rowing footsteps of former Evesham Rowing Club trainee Alex Gregory who won gold in London 2012. (s)

EVESHAM Rowing Club has been riding on the wave of the Olympics after seeing a big increase in the number of people wanting to join up.

The club, which celebrates its 150th anniversary next year, has been on a huge high since their former trainees Alex Gregory and Zac Purchase won gold and silver respectively in London 2012 when showcasing to the world their rowing talents.

In the week after the Olympic Games officially closed, the Abbey Road club received 40 new enquiries when normally they get the same amount of calls in a year. And the athletes' endeavours look set to inspire a new generation of Olympic stars in the Vale.

John Lomas, chairman of Evesham Rowing Club, said: “We’re obviously incredibly proud of Alex and Zac’s achievements and delighted to see so much fresh interest in the sport.

“Following Beijing we saw a peak in interest but since London we’ve seen a constant flurry of interest that has lasted with continued enquires of three or four per week.

“The Club has really punched above its weight in terms of producing international-class rowers and hopefully this wave of enthusiasm will help us provide even more Olympians in the future.

“We’ll be holding additional beginners’ courses and extra taster sessions with our coaches from September and we’d love to hear from anyone keen to get involved.”

Evesham Rowing Club will be having a day to celebrate the club's Olympic achievements and success when they host the Evesham Regatta on Saturday, September 15.

The event had originally been scheduled to take place in May but bad weather forced the annual event to be cancelled until a later date.

Another group benefiting greatly from the London 2012 extravaganza is the Evesham All Starz Gymnastics Club who have received many enquiries following Team GB's success in gymnastics.

Gymnasts coach Emma Williams, who runs weekly classes at Evesham High School, said the club were working hard to deal with the extra demand from excited and inspired youngsters and parents.

"The Olympics had has had a great impact on the perception of gymnastics," she said. "When the boys won their bronze medal literally the next day we had four people ring up enquiring about spaces for their sons.

"We are now looking to take on an extra coach and extra classes to deal with the extra demand."

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