World record set by Bexhill rowers

NOT many sportsmen can lay claim to being world record holders but members of Bexhill Rowing Club now have that distinction.

They were part of the 10-man team which shattered the previous best for the 100,000m lightweight (under 75kg) small team category on a rowing machine at Brighton's Riptide Gym on Sunday.

Matt and Mark Mitchell, Chris Mizen and Kieran Cahill teamed up with rowers from various parts of the country to take on the considerable challenge offered by a punishing five-hour row, and backing them up were club-mates Matt Hellier, Phil McCorry and Jemma Cropper who acted as helpers.

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Rowing just 10 strokes per person before letting the next person on, meant that, although they each had to row hard for a short period of time, they only had about 90 seconds rest before their next go. The team was aiming to beat five hours which would easily put them inside the previous world best of 5 hours 11 minutes. To achieve this they had to set an average 500m pace of 1 minute 30 seconds, including change-overs.

Mark Mitchell had the honour of going first and pulled 1.17 before upping the tempo to 1.15 and then pacing himself at 1.18 to 1.20. His brother went out at 1.14 before deciding to stay in the 1.18-1.19 zone for the remainder of the event. Both Mizen and Cahill pulled 1.20 and the occasional 1.19.

By half-way, they were well on course to better the previous record but chose to push hard to create a formidable target for anyone else mad enough to have a go, eventually finishing in an outstanding time of 4 hours 39 minutes (an average pace of 1.23.7 per 500m).

Matt Mitchell said: "Everybody was amazed we did it so fast. We were aiming for five hours but the guys we had with us were only marginally slower than us. It's going to be a long time before someone beats that record."

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He was also full of praise for the role played by the helpers, saying: "Without those guys we would not have done it."

They are now awaiting confirmation from Concept (rowing machine manufactures and record keepers) of the record attempt.

The time is all the more outstanding because it also beats a previous record of 4 hours 44 minutes held by Leander's heavyweight team which included Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell.