Coach education for coastal rowing gets going

Just before the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals got under way, a group of enthusiastic coaches, together with coach educators, gathered in Oeiras, Portugal. World Rowing organised its first in-person coaching education entirely focused on coastal rowing.

The first day was dedicated to delivering the practical part of the coaching course, “Coastal Race Module”, which was led by Guin Batten, chair of the World Rowing Coastal Commission. This course is aimed at experienced coaches, but not necessarily in coastal, to learn about and be able to deliver coastal rowing for the beach sprints and endurance format. The course includes a theoretical part (Part A) which had already been delivered online over the past months to several groups of coaches. For coaches new to coastal, understanding and applying the safety and technical aspects are key to successfully growing this discipline.

The practical part (Part B) has been delayed by the pandemic, but it was finally able to take place in Oeiras. The in-person coaching education was aimed mostly at European and northern-African coaches, for geographical reasons, and it attracted participants from eight countries.

This practical part meant that coaches were able to put in practice what they had learned in the theory and test first-hand the specifics of the coastal environment. Following their assessment at the end of the course, the participants received the Coastal Race Module coaching certificate – Part A+B.

Day 2 was just coach educators all of whom are certified coaches who have been collaborating with World Rowing for a number of years to deliver rowing courses around the world. During the day they received specific training to become coach educators in coastal rowing so that they are able to train new coaches in these disciplines in the future.

The training was led by Rosie Mayglothling, World Rowing Coaching Education Director and 21 coach educators from four continents participated. The activities of the training covered coastal-specific aspects and also overarching elements of delivery and assessment for coaching.

The World Rowing Coach Development Programme, under the guidance of Development Director Daniela Gomes, has been working in recent years to re-structure the existing coaching material so that it is consistent and a user-friendly source of information for all education activities that relate to World Rowing. It includes an interactive online data-base of coaches worldwide and their certification.

Coastal Rowing is the latest addition to this material and the coaching education activities in Oeiras have been an essential stepping stone to the development of coastal rowing across the world in a safe and structured way.

At the end of the coaching course, Batten stated: “It was good to be back on the water after so many months of virtual coach education. The break at Oeiras on the Tuesday provided the coaches with some ‘live’ big wave launching and landing experience which they will be able to share with other coaches around the world”

Commenting on the coach educators training, Mayglothling said: “I can only congratulate all the coach educators who supported each other and shared experiences in an open and collaborative way. They created the best learning environment which I am confident is what they will do when delivering our courses. “