Newcastle rowers hailed the inaugural Power8 Sprints as a game-changer for the sport after men’s and women’s crews representing the city battled it in Bristol.

The first ever Power8 Sprints event was the headline act on the water at the annual Bristol Harbour Festival on Sunday as thousands of spectators enjoyed the thrilling action.

Eight cities - Bristol, Cambridge, Exeter, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Oxford - represented by men’s and women’s crews went head-to-head over 350m to be crowned champions.

Despite both Newcastle crews being knocked out in the first round, Andy Brown believes the initiative is a positive step forward for the sport to get more people involved.

“It’s a big difference from when you’re racing 2km, you’ve obviously got so few strokes to get through all of it, so we’ve got to make the most of every single bit,” he said.

“The Power8s have been a really good inspiration to get loads of people together, certainly from our region – we’ve come from all different clubs,

“We got a boat that’s a representation of the region, rather than just one club going forward, which has been great in terms of getting everyone together. 

“Obviously in the North-East we’re so used to doing regattas that are about 700m, but then having that swapped down to the really short distance, it’s a great change of speed. 

“It’s a really good event and it gives you an opportunity to do something different and get more people into the sport as you’ve got such a great atmosphere with the crowds.

“It’s all a bit of fun really, because you go out there and do the fun bit of the race - which is the start - and a fun bit of the race – which is the end. You just put them together with no real slog in the middle, so you just go sky-high straight from the off. 

“It’s obviously quite big on the European side of things, they do quite a lot of sprint racing, so it was about time that we had something here.”

British Rowing launched the new short-course competition, instead of the usual 2,000m, to help broaden the appeal of rowing and bring fans closer to the action.

In the men’s event, Newcastle were beaten by rowing heavyweights Cambridge in the first round before Manchester claimed the title of Power8 Sprints champions.

The women’s eight representing Newcastle were knocked out by hosts Bristol but even so, University of Teeside rower Imogen Kench-Porter said the Power8 Sprints atmosphere was like nothing she has ever experienced before in a boat.

“I think 2km racing can be a little bit boring for some that don’t know rowing, so this is great,” she said. “It’s really exciting and it’s more accessible to everyone.

“It’s also brought people from all the different regions together, so for us we’ve met people that we didn’t know before and we’re rowing with people who we’d never have rowed with.

“Those relationships are probably going to continue now, and I think that’s really exciting thing to be a part of, especially as you’re representing your region.

“That’s where you’re from – we’re all from the north and all really proud of that – so you go out there and you want to win for the north.”

Olympic silver medallist Jess Eddie, who was part of the history-making women’s eight team in Rio 2016, was the City Champion for Newcastle at the event.

The born and bred Geordie from Durham was on hand to give advice and support the teams in the build up and she welcomed the new initiative as an exciting development.

“I think this event is going to be really new and exciting format for rowing as we normally race 2,000m, which is great if you’re part of that but no so fun for the spectator,” she said.

“It’s going to allow a lot more people to watch the finish and it will just be a lot more engaging for spectators as it’s a new, exciting and dynamic direction for the sport.”

The inaugural Power8 Sprints took place in Bristol on 22nd July. To find out how the action unfolded visit www.power8sprints.com