
Folkestone Rowing Club
New Boat Christened
The Chris Lewis Launched
On Sunday the 13th July a new boat was Christened at the clubhouse. The boat was purchased from a grant from Kent County Council to aid on the clubs junior rowing programme. The Double scull will assist in the one to one teaching of new junior rowers.
Why sculling boats? The A.R.A. have determined that in young people it sweep rowing can create problems in later life. This is due to the body becoming more developed on one side. This is not an issue with sculling as the build up is equal on both sides of the body.Club captain Marc Alderman unveiled one of the boats, named after long standing member Chris Lewis, who has excelled in rowing, assisted in the fund raising efforts of the club and spent many hours working with the junior rowers.
Chris started out a a coxswain at the young age of 12 at which he excelled. His coxing high point was winning the coveted Bideford Bowl in 1972. This was the first and only time th club has one the trophy. At 16 Chris started his rowing career and quickly move up the status ranks with his crew to senior status. A number of times Chris competed for the Bideford Bowl himself twice comming second but unfortunatly not matching his coxing triumph. Chris has spent many years assisting the club as a coach and on the committee. Most notably he was Captain for three years from 1984 to 1986, a position which he repeated in 2007. This is Chris's 40th year as a member of the club.