North West rowing talent Carly Morris is hoping for a summer of progression after being chosen to represent Manchester in an innovative new sprint rowing competition.
Morris, who trains at Grosvenor Rowing Club in Chester, will be part of an eight-woman Manchester crew that will face off against seven other UK cities at the Power8 Sprints in July.
Both male and female crews compete for their city, head to head in a knock-out tournament over a 350m course, just one of the races that Morris is participating in this year.
“My season’s going great,” she said. “I’m training twice a day at the minute and just recently competed at Nottingham City Regatta.
“I’m so proud to be part of a pioneering event in rowing for the Power8 Sprints and to represent Manchester, I’ve met all the girls who are in contention and are racing in our boat.
“We had an induction event a month ago and it was amazing to be on the water with a really powerful crew.
“I train with the high-performance group at the Grosvenor Rowing Club in Chester and then we have our structured races together.
“Next year we’re hoping to be racing at Henley Royal either in a quad or in a four which again, hopefully there’s a lot of potential there and then after that wherever rowing takes me I guess, I’m just going to keep pushing hard.”
The inaugural Power8 Sprints race will be held at Bristol Harbour on Sunday July 22, with Newcastle, Manchester, Nottingham, Exeter, Bristol, Oxford, Cambridge and London all facing off against each other.
Supporters will be able to see the action down on Bristol harbourside or watch the event live on BT Sport.
Morris added: “I think the Power8 Sprints will draw in new people who wouldn’t ordinarily row, I think it will capture a new audience and will be watched of lots of spectators.
“We normally to do 2km and 7km races which isn’t great for spectators, being 350m sprint the Power8 Sprints will hopefully encourage more people from a non-rowing community to get involved.
“I think it’ll go really well, really competitively, because it’s a new event it’s difficult to say who’s going to get this one in the bag and we’re all gunning to beat London – knock them down a few pegs!
“I think London are awesome, they have a large pool of athletes to choose from but in Manchester and the region around we’ve got a lot to offer.”
Carly Morris is a City Champion for Manchester’s Power8 Sprints rowing crew, who will be competing at the inaugural event on July 22 as the headline act on the water at the Bristol Harbour Festival. To find out how you can get involved, visit www.power8sprints.com
