Warrnambool Rowing Club's Bryan Pitman is making the most of the coronavirus lockdown.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 34-year-old borrowed a rowing machine from the club and is excelling in virtual rowing events from his garage.
The South Purrumbete resident took first place in the male masters (27 years and above) 1500 metres in a Rowing Victoria virtual regatta on Saturday.
Pitman who completed the challenge in 5.09.5 minutes edged out the runner-up by half a second.
READ MORE:
Pitman, who joined the Warrnambool Rowing Club in the past year, has been keen to keep his fitness up during lockdown.
"I've just been trying to train at home with what I have laying around," he said.
"When I heard about the competition, I borrowed one of the machines from the club."
It's wasn't the only virtual competition he tried has hand at on the weekend.
He also competed in a four-nation indoor rowing challenge with Australia taking on Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand.
The One Minute Challenge asked participants to see how far they could row in one minute on their machine at home.
Pitman finished equal 47th of the 629 competitors from Australia with a distance of 359m.
He had the equal 11th best effort for the male heavyweight 30-39 age group.
While Pitman has been rowing at gyms for the past three to four years, he joined the Warrnambool Rowing Club this year.
He admits he's still got plenty to learn on the water.
Especially about balance, timing and "how not to cover the front person with water when you make a mistake".
"It's extremely technical compared to just sitting on the rowing machine," he said.
His virtual rowing success hasn't come out of nowhere.
He won his age group, 30-39 heavyweight male, for the most metres in four minutes at the Australian Indoor Rowing Championships in 2019.
Pitman normally trains at Nick Hose Fitness in Camperdown, where he completed multiple sessions a week before lockdown.
Our COVID-19 news articles relating to public health and safety are free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.
