The people are the life and soul of a boat club. Great people make a great club. What was clear from the scenes at the medal pontoon on the third day of racing at the British Rowing Club Championships is that Infinity Boat Club is backed by some of the very best.
The mission is a simple one: use rowing to help school children realise their full potential both on and off the water. What this looks like varies enormously. Whether it’s winning their first national medals or teaching children how to swim, no two days are the same at the club, but each is as rewarding as the last for everyone involved.
Infinity Boat Club Coaches Ellie and James Stevenson may have only started in January but have been caught up in the passion and purpose of the North East Club.
“It’s been an incredible seven months. What these kids do is unbelievable,” said Ellie.
“We work with loads of schools, but we don’t go into anywhere that’s not at least 50% free school meals. These kids had absolutely no concept of what rowing was until about two years ago. And now that, you know, they’re punching well above their weight.”
Punching well above their weight is the perfect description for Infinity, who are harnessing the power of rowing to change lives. Their Open J16 Quadruple Scull has been a source of inspiration for the whole club. In April, they travelled to the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta and left with a silver medal while representing their region.
Come the National Schools’ Regatta, momentum was building for the self-proclaimed “Ginger Quad.” They left Dorney Lake, home of the 2012 Olympics, with a hard-fought bronze medal, having led the field at halfway.
“It’s quite rare that a kid from Stockton is rubbing shoulders with Shiplake and Windsor Boys’ having a good time. They’re incredible.”
Credit: AllMarkOne
Their season finale came at the British Rowing Club Championships. Infinity topped the time trial and were second in their semi-final. Come the final, it was about as good an ending to their historic season as you could have asked for. Silver for the Ginger Squad and welcomed onto the landing stage like heroes by all their proud supporters.
“I’ve got a set of twins in the bows, but they get to do it to show the younger kids what we can do. And they’re the first kids that are able to do that,
“Over the next few years, I hope we get to come back on the podium a couple of times. I’d like to get the girls going as well as the boys are. We are a couple of years behind there, but we’re getting there. I want them to love rowing. I want them to love the sport.
“I want them to understand that it’s much bigger than the boathouse we’re in. Watching them become better people is massive, and watching them learn, set the standard for the rest of them, but help people understand it because they’ve seen something the rest of them haven’t.”
Medals will always feature in any highlights list, but Infinity is so much more than that. Ellie and the coaching team have also taught 16 children how to swim this year, an essential factor if they are to get them onto the water.
“We’re such a small club, and we’re only a couple of years old. The amount of support that we get is just incredible,” said Jacob Haxton, who stroked the crew to Sunday’s silver medal.
“If you’d asked me at the start of the season about the season that we would have had, I would definitely not have told you this. So, I’m just really grateful that we got this far and thanks to our coaches as well. All the coaches are really putting in all of their effort to make sure we can go as far as we can, and as long as we’re there to turn up and put in the effort, they’re completely behind us every step of the way.”
For the Ginger Quad, the racing season may be over, but Infinity Boat Club have a summer of Learn to Row courses to get stuck into and help the next generation of Stockton rowers discover rowing and harness the power of sport to change lives.
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