COASTAL rowing is ‘an incredible community for supporting people ‘of all ages’.

That is the opinion of Rhian Evans, a stalwart of Clwb Rhwyfo Llangrannog, who - along with her partner Ian Flounders - has signed up to volunteer as a boat handler at next week’s 2022 World Coastal Rowing Championships at Saundersfoot.

Starting on Friday, October 7 the event, which takes place over two consecutive weekends, will see top coastal club rowers from around the world attend the first weekend and international elite competitors battling it out over the beach sprint finals across the second.

“I can’t wait to help all the teams get to where they need to be and make sure their boats are in the right place too,” said Rhian.

“Having the championships in October can mean the weather and waves could be quite rough, but it can be very entertaining to watch the boats bouncing up and down.

“It will make it quite a bit tougher too.”

This will be the first time the World Championships have been held in Wales, and the event is regarded as a potentially great platform for this fairly new sport that may one day become an Olympic discipline.

Having been involved in coastal rowing for more than 15 years, and a keen club rower herself, Rhian is keen to stress how inclusive the sport is.

“It’s a sport for all ages - we have people in their seventies,” she revealed.

“And the boats can also be adjusted and adapted depending on certain degrees of disability, which is great as then even more people can try and enjoy the sport.

“One of my friends who recently had a stroke is still able to row and is doing really well too. The majority of my club consists of over 40s and the majority are women.

“It’s great to see everyone getting involved together. We are a team and we all pull together as one crew.”