Sustainability. It’s not generally a word associated with rowing. But, with sport at the forefront of the environmental crisis and figures like Imogen Grant speaking out about the need for change, rowing is in a prime position to lead the push for sustainability. Clubs and organisations need to start the road to the recovery of our rivers.
Why is sustainability important in sport?
Sport is the world’s favourite pastime and is a huge part of culture, with an estimated 5 billion people tuning into the Olympics this year. But, amid all the joy sport brings, the climate emergency looms over us like a thunderstorm with the direst consequences surrounding it.
Imogen Grant is spearheading a sustainability drive. Since winning Olympic gold this summer,she has won the International Olympic Committee climate award with Deloitte, which has offered her the mentoring and funding to pursue action within rowing. Grant is also an ambassador for the Rivers Trust and a campaigner for the Clean Water Sport Alliance, two charities working to create a greener future for all bodies of water.
Sustainability is so closely tied with sport because of the outdoors. Without the ability to use our green spaces, sport cannot function. This is most evident in rowing; we are dependent on conditions and the good health of our waterways for us to row on them. All of us have seen the damage when the protection of our rivers is neglected, with the controversy around E-coli and sickness in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race last year. Water companies like Thames Water pumped human waste into the Greater London area for 1,914 hours in 2024 or 79 days, while thousands of crews have been rowing through the masses of waste in the major Tideway Heads.
Rowers, as one of the largest groups using rivers up and down the country, have a duty to stand up to fight for the protection of these valuable sites and, naturally, being the area where rowing gets most attention, the Thames is the place to start.
Sports events and the environment
By far the largest impact on climate from sport is events. They are the grandest stage for athletes to show the training they have done but are tainted by their damage to the environment. Transportation is the most prevalent issue here, with vast amounts of greenhouse gases emitted from inefficient travel on top of litter which is left in the wake of events. Often, these two factors are not even considered by audiences.
The perfect place for us to start is to champion environmentally-friendly transport to/from events. Grant has suggested that huge gains can be made from creating a template for “sustainable rowing races” around the world. The Olympian has pushed for huge change with some of the largest races across the country, by establishing a strategy to minimise climate impact using methods such as purely online results, new rules and instructions for participants, and having sustainability members on the committee. Special mentions here go to the Head of the River Regatta, who have added a sustainability section on their website, and Henley Women’s Regatta, who have laid out an environmental protection strategy, being among the first major sports events in the UK to do so.
We need to demand these changes at all events.
Change for clubs and rowers
While events are a focus right now, in the long term, we do need to tackle the mammoth task of cleaning our heavily polluted waterways.
The first step is to test the section of water near you for nitrates and phosphates, passing this data onto the Rivers Trust who can add this to their database with which they will campaign for change as well as acting themselves.
For clubs, electric launches are the biggest game changers, preventing toxic fuel from polluting rivers. Installing solar panels on the roofs of boathouses can also optimise renewable energy use.
As previously mentioned, transportation is the most harmful part of sports events, and the best way to be efficient is by sharing travel and trailering, filling each trailer to the brim to minimise cars on the road. Use of buckets of water (without detergents) rather than hoses can help reduce water usage, along with encouraging members to use club showers and taps wisely.
Rowers can make themselves aware of the issues immediately surrounding them within the sport and push for new standards within their community by writing a letter to their local MP about their stance on clean waterways.
Impact of environmental organisations
All around us are groups working towards the change that has been talked about so much in this article.
The Rivers Trust, which Imogen is an ambassador for, is the largest charity focused on river protection. They employ conservation experts and work with member trusts to create the dream for all rowers: healthy, natural rivers. They are a huge charity, managing projects from weekly litter picks to influencing policy in the House of Commons.
Clean Water Sport Alliance, which British Rowing are part of, are also at the forefront of campaigning for healthier waterways. Recently organising the biggest demonstration in Westminster for clean water yet, the group has 450,000 members who are all united by being affected by poor water quality and demanding that it cannot go on like this.
British Rowing has also established a strategy for protecting the environment focused on tracking pollution within rivers and, looking forward, mitigating the effects of rowing on the climate. Promises have been made to record CO2 emissions and work to cut them down, in addition to supporting clubs and members across the UK to implement their own climate action.
Rowing is never going to be a huge sport like football, at least not in the near future. As a community, we need to look at how we can maximise the impact of little-known water sports on the world stage for good. By being the spearhead pushing for change in cleaning our waterways, rowing can become one of the leads for a future in sustainability and sport.
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