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Sight impaired rowers are empowered by headset

Shariqua Ahmed & Emma Baugh
BBC News, Peterborough
Emma Baugh/BBC Kate Lindgren wearing a blue fleece sitting in a rowing boat holding her oars. Her left hand is leaning on wooden decking, and in the left of the photo and in the background is the river and some trees on the bank.Emma Baugh/BBC
The Row the Rhythm project at Peterborough, which started with Kate Lindgren, now supports 15 people

A group of visually impaired rowers say a piece of simple technology is empowering more people to take up the sport.

Kate Lindgren was the first blind rower to join Peterborough City Rowing Cub eight years ago.

She helped set up the Row the Rhythm project last year to support blind or partially sighted participants, and there are now 15 at the club from across Cambridgeshire.

A coach involved in the project said a Bluetooth headset used by the rowers to communicate was "life-changing".

Put simply, using the Bluetooth kit is like having a phone call.

The rower and the coach each have their own headset and can communicate across the water easily.

But this kit has meant rowers have the independence to go out on their own on a single boat, something they could not do before.

Emma Baugh/BBC The blue and small headset is being held by someone between their fingers. In the background is the wooden decking and concrete surface of the path beside the river.Emma Baugh/BBC
The rowers use the Bluetooth headset to communicate across the water

Ms Lindgren said being on the boat on her own gave her a feeling of freedom and "power".

"I have been trying to make people aware that rowing is accessible for people with visual impairment," she explained.

"These Bluetooth headsets feel like a nice, quiet way to enjoy rowing. Just an amazing feeling."

Alex Thorogood, one of the rowers at the club, said the headset meant she was in "complete control" while out on the water.

Emma Baugh/BBC Peter Forrest wearing a blue zipped jacket and a blue cap and glasses smiling for the camera - standing in front of red and white stacks of boats.Emma Baugh/BBC
Peter Forrest said the use of the headsets had enhanced the experience for both coaches and the rower

Coach Peter Forrest said the headsets offer a more "one-to-one conversation".

"In the olden days, the only way to communicate with a rower from the bank was with a megaphone," he said.

"When you have 10 visually impaired people - then you have got 10 megaphones making a lot of noise - and you can't really communicate.

"It gets totally confusing."

Rowing clubs from elsewhere in England have taken inspiration from Peterborough's venture, and are trying to set up similar groups for sight impaired members.

The group in Peterborough even runs a minibus service to make the weekly activity more accessible to others coming from out of the city - including some in Lincolnshire and Leicestershire.

Mr Forrest said the use of the technology and the efforts of the Row the Rhythm project had helped introduce "lots more" people to the sport.

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