Nottingham rowers believe Power8 Sprints will breathe new life into rowing after the men’s and women’s crews battled it out in the inaugural event 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 Nottingham crews being knocked out in the first round, Abigail Baldwin hailed the event as a brilliant initiative to encourage more people to get involved in rowing.

And she was also left in awe after Rio 2016 Olympic champion Phelan Hill, City Champion for Nottingham, stepped in at the last minute as cox for the women’s crew.

“It was really fun to be out on the water and it was really loud with the atmosphere, it wasn’t like any race that I’ve done before,” said the Nottingham RC rower.

“We did better than we thought as our crew came together very last minute, so we weren’t expecting much and we were really happy with how we performed.

“I think Power8 is going to be really good for rowing, especially for spectators as it’s so fast paced compared to 2k, which has so many different sections in a race.

“I can see it getting more people involved in rowing as it’s been televised and I think that will help more people get into it through that.

“It was really surreal to have Phelan coxing us, I was texting my mum saying, ‘Oh my gosh’ as we were really nervous but it was really good.”

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.

The women’s team were knocked out by eventual champions Oxford, while in the men’s event, Nottingham narrowly lost out to Exeter before Manchester claimed the title.

Each city crew raced in a unique and vibrant colour, allowing fans to get behind the team of their choice, and Nottingham University rower Peter Boyes said the support was like nothing he had experienced before.

“This is a great set of races, one after the other over 350m, which is less than a minute, and lots of fast paced rowing, lots of action and nowhere to hide,” he said.

“Spectators can see the whole race and that’s a big change, which is important, as it gives people a really good insight into what rowing is about. 

“The race offers a lot more for the spectators and everyone watching really carried us through, which is something they don’t really get to do in the 2k race.

“They always talk on the commentary at the Olympics about how much the lift at the end is and having that for the entire race is something completely different.”

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City Champion Hill, who was coxswain of the GB rowing team men’s eight for the past two Olympiads, was on hand to give the teams advice before he was called into action.

“They had a last-minute issue on the coxing front, so I got the call up,” he said. “I hadn’t actually done that much racing since Rio so I loved being back in the boat.

“I think Power8 racing will raise the profile of the sport. I’ve been in rowing for around 15 years and one thing that is always trying to happen is the evolution of the sport.

“Full marks to British rowing as they are trying to push the sport on and pen up opportunities to new people and it’s a new innovative format, fast, furious racing.”

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