A County Durham rower has claimed triple gold at the World Rowing Virtual Indoor Championships.
Roger Stainforth, a member of Durham Amateur Rowing Club, competed in the men’s 80+ category during the championships, which were held over two consecutive weekends in February.
He secured gold medals in all three events - one minute, 1,000 metres, and 5,000 metres - after advancing through the heats on February 21 and 22 and into the finals on February 28.
Mr Stainforth said: "I’m elated to be world champion in three categories.
"The times and distances were my best this year and helped improve my Concept 2 rankings."
This year's event saw a shake-up in the race format, replacing the usual 2,000 metre and 500 metre distances with new 1 minute, 1,000 metre, and 5,000 metre challenges.
Mr Stainforth topped the heats in the one minute and 5,000 metre events and finished second in the 1,000 metre heat.
He said: "The great thing about IRCs is that regardless of the weather outside, the event goes ahead and the main point of concern is the quality of your wifi and remembering to upload a video to World Rowing when you finish the race."
In the one minute heat, he tied with two American competitors, Bob Fisher and Michael McGuirk, with each covering 304 metres.
In the 1,000 metre heat, Mr Stainforth finished in 3.47.9, just 1.2 seconds behind Mr McGuirk, who had the advantage of knowing the time to beat due to the staggered schedule and finished with a time of 3.46.7.
He said: "My American and Belgian – a former Belgium Olympian in the late 1960s/70s – competitors started very fast and I only overcame a deficit at 800 metres.
"I rowed hard to the finish and had an 8.1 second advantage crossing the line."
He delivered his most satisfying result of the weekend in the 5,000 metre heat, winning by 44 seconds in 20.17.9 - just seven seconds short of the British record.
All finalists raced simultaneously in the finals, which were live-streamed on the World Rowing YouTube channel.
Mr Stainforth said: "Racing virtually side by side and knowing your competitors’ time and distance posted in the heats makes a huge difference.
"During the race, data is displayed on the monitor and computer.
"Immediately the race starts it seems like a live IRC event."
He went on to win the one minute final with 310 metres - a six-metre improvement on his heat and four metres clear of second place.
He also took gold in the 5,000 metres and improved his 1,000 metre time by 6.1 seconds to win in 3.41.8.
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World Rowing is expected to announce an in-person Indoor Rowing Championships later this year, which will reintroduce the 2,000 metre and 500 metre events.
Mr Stainforth finished 75th overall in the one minute event across all age categories, and secured top spot in every event within his category.
Full race results are available on the World Rowing website, and medals will be mailed to winners.
