British Indoor Rowing Championships

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The British Indoor Rowing Championships (BIRC) is an indoor rowing event organised by Concept2. It first began in 1991 with the first event held in Henley-on-Thames attracting 200 competitiors. Over the years it outgrew all of its venues and has been held since 2000 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. The 2005 championships had over 3,000 entrants and is currently the world 's biggest indoor rowing event and Britain's biggest mass-participation indoor sporting event.

The races are separated Men, Lightweight Men, Women, and Lightweight Women - with these further split into age categories. All competitiors over 16 race 2,000 m (the Olympic rowing distance) with shorter time-based events for Juniors.

There are also team races where teams of four race 4,000 m as a relay.

The event is staffed by the University of Birmingham Boat Club and University of Warwick Boat Club.