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Sporting hopefuls show their potential

Sporting youngsters were put through their paces at an indoor rowing event held at the University.

The first ever Tees Valley Schools indoor rowing event gave pupils the opportunity to race against other students their own age, aided by software which projected the race onto a big screen. Pupils, aged between 11 and 18, took part in the event, organised by a partnership between Sports Universities North East England, Tees Valley Sport and British Rowing.

The University’s Sport Development Outreach Officer, Vickie Todd, said: ‘The event was a great success and a reflection of the fantastic partnership between ourselves, British Rowing and Tees Valley Sport.

‘Through this partnership we were able to provide a high quality event, using the University’s excellent facilities, the expertise of British Rowing and our student volunteers to support the running of the event.’

Going for gold Those who took part in the rowing event competed for different periods of time depending on their age. A Gold Medal Target was set so the pupils could compare themselves against others based on the percentage of their Gold Medal Target.

James Kessell, 17, from Yarm School, was the overall winner, completing 2,000 metres in 6 minutes, 26 seconds - 109% of his Gold Medal Target.

James, who has rowed for Wales at both junior and senior level, said: ‘The event was well set up and will be really good as it grows with more people getting involved.

‘It could be the start of something good because once people get involved and get their first taste of winning, they want to carry on and, even if you lose, you know if you keep training you can win.

‘That’s the brilliant thing about rowing - it is a sport where you get out what you put in.’

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