Active encouragement from an Olympic great (From Daily Echo)

Active encouragement from an Olympic great

OLYMPIC legend Sir Steve Redgrave fired the starting gun on a new rowing initiative in Southampton yesterday, with a schools challenge involving more than 1,000 youngsters.

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The five-times gold medallist staged a contest between 13 city schools and two colleges to mark the launch of the initiative, which will see five indoor rowing machines installed in each school.

Each school entered a team of budding rowers for the inter-school challenge held at Redbridge Community School, with each team member rowing for 30 seconds over a 1,500m virtual course.

The scheme has been set up thanks to a £100,000 donation from the Steve Redgrave Fund in partnership with the School Sport Fund.

Sir Steve said: “It’s not about producing our next Olympic gold medallist, it’s about trying to get children to be more active.”