The British Rowing Indoor Championships (BRIC) is an

indoor rowing Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

event previously organised by The Rowing Company under the title British Indoor Rowing Championships (BIRC). It first began in 1991 with the first event held in Henley-on-Thames attracting 200 competitors. Over the years it outgrew all of its venues and from 2000 was held at the National Indoor Arena in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

. 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. Olympic rowing gold medalists Steve Redgrave and

Matthew Pinsent Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent, (; born 10 October 1970) is an English rower and broadcaster. During his rowing career, he won 10 world championship gold medals and four consecutive Olympic gold medals. Since retiring, he has worked as a sports br ...

have won open titles at the event in the past. The races are separated men, lightweight men, women, and lightweight women – with these further split into age categories. All competitors 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 3,000 m as a relay. In 2014, it was announced that the event had been taken over by

British Rowing British Rowing, formerly the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA), is the national governing body for the sport of rowing (both indoor and on-water rowing). It is responsible for the training and selection of individual rowers and crews representi ...

and would be rebranded as the British Rowing Indoor Championships. The first event under the new name was held on 8 February 2015 at the

Lee Valley VeloPark Lee Valley VeloPark is a cycling centre on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London, England. It is owned and managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and it was opened to the public in March 2014. The facility was one of the ...

Graham Benton Graham Benton is a British indoor rower. He has won the British Rowing Indoor Championships 12 times and the World Indoor Rowing Championships six. While Benton is primarily an indoor rower, he has participated in outdoor rowing competitions, e ...

and

Emanuele Romoli Emanuele Romoli (born 20 March 1957, in Desio, Italy) is an Italian indoor rower and coach. Rowing career The first success in the practice of indoor rowing comes in 2001 with the victory of the gold medal at the Italian championships. In 2005 ...

are two of the main "non-rower" to win the men's open event at the BIRC, an event dominated until that time by Olympic water rowers such as

(who won in 2003),

James Cracknell James Edward Cracknell, (born 5 May 1972) is a British athlete, rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist. Cracknell was appointed OBE for "services to sport" in the 2005 New Year Honours List. Biography Cracknell began rowing whilst ...

(second in 2003), and

Jamie Schroeder Jamie Twist Schroeder (born September 9, 1981, in Wilmette, Illinois) is an American rower, and a victorious Oxford Blue. Education Schroeder was educated at Choate Rosemary Hall, Connecticut '99, and Stanford University '05 from where she has ...

(who won in 2002).

References

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External links

British Rowing Indoor Championships Official SiteFormer BIRC Official Site
Indoor rowing competitions Rowing in the United Kingdom Sport in Birmingham, West Midlands