RowinG aCTUaLLY
B Final of the men’s double sculls
at the 2007 World Rowing Coastal
Championships for Clubs held in
Mandelieu, near Cannes (FRA).
© Igor Meijer
16
But when the French rowing federation began
to strongly encourage clubs to develop
coastal rowing in 2000, the club began to
purchase the appropriate equipment. Now it
has the largest fleet of coastal rowing boats
owned by any French club: 21, including
eight solos, eight doubles and five quads.
Today, more than 100 members regularly
practice coastal rowing and 90 per cent of
the club’s adult rowing outings are coastal.
Last November the RCCM inaugurated a
secondary base in the Cannes bay, dedicated
to coastal rowing.
The newly crowned world coastal champion
in the men’s quad Jean-François Malval is
based out of Saint-Malo, in France’s Bretagne
region, where he coaches and trains with his
teammates at a dedicated coastal rowing
club. “In Bretagne, one out of two rowing
clubs only offer coastal rowing,“ says Jean-François. “Our club was founded in 1993 and
has 200 members aged 6 to 65.“
“Children as young as eight can start rowing
out on the sea,“ says Jean-François. “It is a very
fun activity with a lot of discoveries to be made
thanks to the fauna and flora we have around us.
We apply the same safety measures as those used
in sailing and kayaking – outings are in groups
and lifejackets are obligatory. Unfortunately we
haven’t yet been able to find lifejackets that are
really adapted to coastal rowing.“ >>
Jean-François Malval rowing
off the shore of Saint-Malo, in
Brittany, France.
Rowing Club Cannes-Mandelieu is the home
club of 2004 Olympic Champion in the men’s
double sculls Sébastien Vieilledent. In 1998
Sébastien helped his club win its first ever
coastal rowing medal: silver in the quad at
the French coastal rowing championships.
© Stéphane Maillard
