We believe that midlife is the perfect time for a change. And the best way to steer your personal “ship” into happier, healthier, novel horizons is through rowing. It’s the perfect way to challenge yourself, elevate your fitness, and connect with a supportive community that understands your journey.
We are on the same pathway
Whether you’ve rowed for years or are new to the sport, welcome. This route is one we’re all paddling together. Let us be your guide and companion to the joys of masters rowing.
We all remember our first strokes when learning to row The challenge of handling the oar and the joy of feeling the boat start to move under you were intoxicating.
Now you’re way beyond that and you can see the future where you can be more skilful, more fit and make the boat move the way you want.
And of course you also know about the complexity of refined technique and increased precision to make every stroke the same. You’ve already come so far – and yet you can see how far you’ve still got to go in mastering rowing and sculling.
Along the way you’ve figured out that brute strength doesn’t work – we aren’t getting stronger as we age! You know the solution is based around teamwork, in persisting to try, committing to turning up regularly, and taking on small challenges. Each challenge completed builds on your base skill and fitness to make you into a better rower.
We care about your rowing future
What you didn’t expect was how challenging and rewarding rowing feels as you move beyond the basics. As a beginner, every workout had a new challenge. Now, it’s about refining precision, being aware of fine details and the reward is feeling that subtle shift as the boat surges forward. It’s exhilarating; the game has changed. Each stroke requires more precision, patience, and focus.
You can see rowing is a lifetime endeavor.
Yet it’s not just about fitness or strength – the mindful pursuit of the perfect stroke taken in unison with your crew mates is so satisfying. You realise the importance of every person in the boat and their contribution in pursuit of the shared goal.
Progress is measured in miles, kilometers, 500m splits and the laughs in the cafe after practice.
The beauty of our sport is that it’s less about reaching a final goal and more about finding fulfilment in the journey. Rowing has shifted from something to try into a sport to understand fully. It’s no longer just about the next big achievement; it’s about seeing how each workout fits into a big picture of lifelong learning and fitness.
Sharing the journey with others deepens the enjoyment. We celebrate small achievements together, we can see the rewards from our focus and commitment as our challenges are overcome. And we love it – because what we’ve learned on the water flows over into the rest of our lives.
Faster Masters Rowing would love to be with you on your rowing journey. It’s enjoyable to learn and see your own advancement. Rowing will both test you and reward you. It brings resilience, teamwork, and strength into your life. And others will notice the change in you too.
What we believe
We often get asked this question why are you doing all this work for masters?
- We passionately believe that masters are an important part of rowing.
- Our core work is to change ageist attitudes and enable more people to try rowing.
- Winning is defined as more than a medal – it’s being in a community that you care about, being in nature, staying healthy, and living well.
- Masters rowing is important for the sport.
Our vision
Rowing is a “sport for life”. As long as clubs, federations and coaches know how to work with older athletes, masters can row with “adaptations” for as long as we choose.
Showcasing adaptations is part of our innovation; finding solutions to challenges is part of our thinking; overcoming structural impediments is part of our lobbying. It’s all in service to improving masters rowing.
Stay in touch
We share regular updates with news, articles, technique and products aligned to the needs of masters rowers. You can get our weekly newsletter (sign up here) and see for yourself the community within Faster Masters Rowing. Take a look at recent newsletters.
Our Team
Founded by Marlene Royle and Rebecca Caroe, the team includes
- Troy Howell – skills in a single scull
- Clarissa Kristjanssen – menopause
- Volker Nolte – oar lengths for masters
- Mike Purcer – rigging your boat as you age
- David E Frost – movement and mobility over age 60
- Sam Dutney
- Adam Kreek
- Lesleh Wright
- David Dickison – balancing masters needs versus juniors
- Al Morrow – 5 ways to improve technique
- John Leekley – how to coach crews of different speed
- Greg Benning – 1% gains for racers
- Jack Burns
- Sander Roosendaal
- Valery Kleshnev
- Mike Davenport
- Patrick Hamner – lightweight erg racing
- Megan Falcone – erg racing
- Graham Benton – erg racing
- John Wojtkiewicz – club management
- Tessa vander Veeken – movement through menopause
- Grant Craies – writes our training programs
- Alex Wolf – writes our strength and conditioning programs
