Quarantraining: SEHBC still thriving during Covid-19
In the midst of global pandemic, the sport of rowing has been unable to thrive. The boathouse was the haven of SEHBC but the club has endeavoured to not let its closure impede any of the immense dedication seen throughout the year, despite the cancellation of all the races we’d been looking for to: Torpids, HORR, WeHORR, and of course the Head of the East. Adapting to a life without the erg was going to be a challenge as erging had become the staple diet of many of our athletes, especially considering the almost non-existent water time last term. The solution was presented in the form of what is known as ‘quarantraining’; the club’s mentality to keep fit while staying in touch during lockdown. Many members swiftly took on the identity of ‘runner’ and have joined the SEHBC team on Strava. It gives us a leaderboard, allowing us to compare our time spent exercising and give each other virtual ‘kudos’.
The Instagram account “sehbcquarantraining” has been successful in live streaming what once were face to face circuit sessions. It has even breathed life into both the tranquil and fighting sides of SEHBC in the form of yoga and bodycombat. These classes have been run by some of our most talented members - Lena, Eveliina, India, Will, Brittany, Alicia. We’ve also had to get creative with the social side of SEHBC. Zoom has taken the place of bar nights for this term with the first event of the lockdown being the SEHBC Pub Quiz. Forty-five members were divided into ten teams with rounds hosted by the committee. The next event was ‘Would SEHBC lie to you?’, our spin on the popular TV show.
Once term began, the committee raised the bar for what could be achieved on a virtual platform. On Saturday 16th May, past and present SEHBC members endeavoured to cumulatively exercise a total distance of 1861km, representing the boat club’s founding date. Thirty-two alumni joined fifty current boat club members, and managed to cycle, run, hike, and erg a total of 4963km, massively surpassing the already ambitious target we had in mind. The motivation behind this event was to match our yearly donation to Bone Cancer Research Trust in memory of Matt Greenwood, which is usually raised from our BBQ at Summer VIIIs. We managed to raise over £3000, and our justgiving page is still open if you would like to donate https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/st-edmund-hall-boat-club.
Our final event of the term took place on the four days of what would have been Summer VIIIs. Thirty two members were divided into four teams of eight and were given twenty four exercise-based challenges to complete between them. These challenges catered to a wide range of athletic abilities; from 10k runs to forward rolls, from burpees to the quickest consumption of a malt loaf. This all culminated on a Zoom call on the Saturday evening replacing what would have been our dinner, where we announced the winning team, showed footage from the event, played games and revealed a music video from the women’s side featuring a special guest.
The final event for SEHBC this academic year will be our Annual General Meeting on Saturday 13th and then that’s all from us until next year. In the meantime the executive committee will be working hard to keep up-to-date with the easing of covid-19 restrictions in line with British Rowing and university guidance.
Jess Radley & Oliver Shepherd (Women’s and Men’s Captains TT 2020)