Indoor & Adaptive Rowing Series 2025-26

The University Indoor & Adaptive Rowing Series (UIARS) aims to empower, encourage, and support University rowing clubs to take on the planning and organising of an indoor rowing event, enabling the formation of a national series of competitions delivering the competitive indoor rowing experience for students and local community representatives.

The series kicks off on Saturday 1 November 2025 and will finish on Sunday 16 November 2025

The series encompasses the GBRT Senior & U23 Open Trial which is provisionally held for Saturday 1 November in Boston and students competing at the trial will be eligible to enter the series.

BUCS CATEGORY WINNERS TO WIN A FREE ENTRY TO BRIC

The top 3 medallists of each of the BUCS indoor rowing categories at each of the BUCS UIARS 2025 series events will be awarded a FREE entry to the British Rowing Indoor Championships (BRIC) - the biggest indoor rowing event of the year! This year, BRIC will be hosted as part of FitFest™ at the NEC, Birmingham on 6 December 2025. https://www.britishrowing.org/events/events-calendar/bric/

British Rowing would love to welcome medallists to the centre stage of the national championships to come and take part alongside others from across the UK (and worldwide) and see if you can take a top spot or even break a British or World record.

Medallists will be emailed an exclusive discount code on to use at the checkout to get a free entry in either the 2,000m, 500m, or Adaptive race categories.

Entries for BRIC 2025 close at 12 noon on Tuesday 25 November 2025! So please do get your entry in before then once this email is sent.

If you can’t wait until then, BRIC 2025 is open now and you can submit an entry by clicking here.

Introducing 250m Sprint:

To keep up with the direction rowing is taking in the global calendar, BUCS has decided to implement a 250m sprint category into our UIARS championships. This is operating as a pilot event and therefore no BUCS points are attributed, however, entries for this category must still go through BUCS Play and medals can still be won. 

Entry fees: 

The Open and Women's Championship, Intermediate and Adaptive categories are all priced at £8.25.

The Open and Women's 250m sprint category is priced at £5.

Entry Dates:

Each host has a different closing date, this will be the week of the event so please check the relevant hosts tab to find out more information.

BUCS Points:

BUCS points are available for all championship categories excluding the 250m sprint.

Entry Process:

To apply for the competition all eligible competitors must follow these steps:

1. Competitor to apply to the event on BUCS Play (Instructions on how to do this can be found here)
2. Institution administrator approves entry (Instructions on how to do this can be found here)
3. BUCS approves/denies entry into competition and publishes confirmed entry list

Any data will be handled in accordance with BUCS Privacy Policy

By participating in this event you agree to adhere to BUCS General Event Disclaimer

To check whether you are eligible to compete in BUCS competitions, please visit REG 4 Individual Eligibility.

Medals:

As this is a series event, BUCS will post medals out to successful institutions following the completion of the event, please liase with your IA to find out more information.

Date:

Saturday 8th November

Venue:

 Birmingham University, Sports & Fitness, Munrow Hall 1

Cost to enter:

Championship, Int and Beginner races - £8.25

250m Sprint - £5

Entries Opening: 

Tuesday 7th October 

Entries Closing:

Student Deadline: Tuesday 4th November at 23:59

Institution Administrator approval deadline: Thursday 6th November at 23:59

Timetable:

Key Timings

• Arrival time: 12:00
• Lightweight weigh-ins open: 12:30
• Racing begins: 13:00

Race Schedule

BUCS Events

• 13:00 – Open Championship BUCS Heats
• 13:30 – Women’s Championship BUCS Heats
• 14:00 – Open Lightweight BUCS Heats
• 14:30 – Open Beginner BUCS Heats
• 15:10 – Women’s Beginner BUCS Heats
• 15:50 – Open 250m Sprint BUCS Heats

Relays

• 16:30 – Open & Women’s Relays
• 16:50 – Beginner Relay
• 17:10 – Mixed Relay

(These will be free and crews can be made on the day!!)

Please note: The schedule may change slightly throughout the day. Ensure you are in the hall at least 30 minutes before your event is due to start.

Closing Ceremony:

The day will conclude with medals and a group event photo at approximately 17:30.

Parking:

Please note that the University of Birmingham is a sustainable campus and we are encouraging that all travelling teams travel to Birmingham in sustainable ways, for information on this please click the link: Sustainable travel (birmingham.ac.uk)

Parking that is controlled by the sports centre is provided in the multi-storey car park that is attached to the building and is accessible by the entrance of Edgbaston Park Road. The event rate will be £7.50 for the day. Photo provided below. Alternatively, there is on campus parking, and this is paid for using the Ring Go app. This is however limited and on a first come first serve basis. Access to campus is off Bristol Road and Edgbaston Park Road.

The university is very accessible by public transport with bus stops directly outside the building on the Bristol Road.

The university also has its own designated train station which is a 10 min walk through campus to the sports centre, with trains arriving from Birmingham new street every 10 mins, a well-connected station with National links.

Changing Facilities:

2 x 2 Women and 2 Men group change on the ground floor of the building.

There are single-sex facilities and inclusive and gender-neutral changing and showering facilities in the dry area.

Food & Drink:

Water fountains can be located outside the changing rooms. As well as, in the corridor alongside the squash courts.

Within sport and fitness refreshment options are limited. Participants and spectators will be able to access the costa coffee for drinks and refreshments on site. There are shops walking distance from the facility to obtain drinks and refreshments

Sustainability:

The sustainability of our event matters to us and these are the positive steps we are taking to manage our environmental impact:

• All staff and volunteers are encouraged to travel to the event via public transport
• We have used local suppliers where possible
• Event programmes are all online, minimising paper use
• We will print on demand merchandise (if applicable)
• We are beginning to track our carbon footprint across BUCS events to identify areas of improvement.

How can you help at this event? Here’s some ideas:

• Be self-sufficient by bringing your own refillable bottles and coffee cups to reduce waste
• Ensure you are disposing of waste correctly – Check around the venue for specific recycling and food waste bins
• Travel smarter – as a team on a minibus, cycle or use public transport
• Go paperless - use your phone for all event information

DATE:

Sunday 9th November

ENTRIES OPENING: 

Tuesday 7th October 

ENTRIES CLOSING:

Student Deadline: Tuesday 4th November at 23:59

Institution Administrator approval deadline: Thursday 6th November at 23:59

VENUE: 

Cardiff University Student’s Union, The Great Hall, Park Place, CF10 3QN

TIMINGS: 

11:00
Clubs arrive
11:30
Weigh-in
12:00
Women’s Beginner 1k – Band 1
12:08
Women’s Beginner 1k – Band 2
12:16
Women’s Beginner 1k – Band 3
12:24
Women’s Beginner 1k – Band 4
12:32
Women’s Beginner 1k – Band 5
12:40
Women’s Beginner 1k – Band 6
12:48
Women’s Beginner 1k – Band 7
12:54
Women’s Beginner 1k – Band 8
BREAK
13:10
Open Beginner 1k – Band 1
13:18
Open Beginner 1k – Band 2
13:26
Open Beginner 1k – Band 3
13:34
Open Beginner 1k – Band 4
13:42
Open Beginner 1k – Band 5
BREAK
14:00
Women’s Championship 2k – Band 1
14:15
Women’s Championship 2k – Band 2
14:30
Women’s Championship 2k – Band 3
BREAK
14:45
Open Championship 2k
BREAK
15:00 250m Sprints – Band 1
15:15 250 Sprints – Band 2
BREAK
15:30 4 x 500m Relay
16:00 End of events

REGISTRATION:
No Registration needed. Contact [email protected] if any entries scratch or go up to the admin table on the day and inform a member of Cardiff University Rowing Club.

COST TO ENTER:

Championship, Int and Beginner races - £8.25

250m Sprint - £5

PARKING
Parking is available behind the SU at a cost.

CHANGING FACILITIES / DISABILITY ACCESS
Changing Facilities available on site. Both Separate gender facilities and unisex facilities available

FOOD & DRINK
There will be a bake sale on site raising money for Cardiff University Rowing Club. There is also a Co-op
downstairs in the SU and a Lidl a 5 minute walk away.

Date:

Saturday 15th November

Venue:

The Graham sports centre, stockton road, DH1 3SE

Entries Opening: 

Tuesday 7th October

Entries Closing:

Student Deadline: Tuesday 11th November at 23:59

Institution Administrator approval deadline: Thursday 13th November at 23:59

Registration:

Registration opens at 9am and runs until event closure at 2pm, and is located at the desk on your right when entering the sports hall. Please ensure you register at least 20 minutes before your race.

Timetable:

The provisional event timetable will be published at https://www.dubc.co.uk/neirc by 12 noon on Thursday 13^th November. The final timetable will be confirmed by 6pm on Friday 14^th November.

Cost to enter:

Championship, Int and Beginner races - £8.25

250m Sprint - £5

Withdrawals:

To withdraw from the event, please contact your Institution Administrator who should inform the event lead.

Please see REG 7.9 for our withdrawal policy

Parking:

Free parking is provided directly outside the sports’ centre, with overflow parking past the astroturf. 

Changing Facilities/ Disability Access:

Accessible toilet facilities are located on the ground floor, to the rear of the building opposite the café, on the first floor in the rear corridor.

Standard toilet facilities are located on the ground floor front right corridor, with female at the end on the right, male at the start on the right, and gender neutral on the left

Accessible changing facilities are located on the ground floor, on the right, in the corridor to the right of the reception desk and at the right-hand side of the building.

Standard male, female, and gender neutral changing facilities are located on the ground floor, right past reception.

Food & Drink:

There is an athlete focussed café on site selling a range of snacks, meals, protein shakes, and more.  There are also a multitude of drinking water fountains.

Date:

Saturday 15th November

Entries Opening: 

Tuesday 7th October

Entries Closing:

Student Deadline: Tuesday 11th November at 23:59

Institution Administrator approval deadline: Thursday 13th November at 23:59

Venue: 

Dame Katherine Grainger Rowing Gym (DKG), part of the Pleasance
Sports Complex and Gym.
The What3Words location for the entry point is: ///cabin.reef.begin
Once through the door, turn right and head up the stairs - you’ll see the DKG ahead of you.
We have limited free onsite parking, including some space for minibuses. Please do not try to
enter via the Pleasance main reception; they’ll just redirect you to the entrance above.

Timings: 

Once entries are confirmed, a full schedule will be emailed to the address provided on your entry form.
We expect to receive the BUCS entry information later on Thursday.
Doors will open at 9:00am on Saturday, with the first race beginning at 10:00am.

Cost to enter:

Championship, Int and Beginner races - £8.25

250m Sprint - £5

Facilities:
Changing rooms and showers for men and women are available in the building and clearly
signposted.
On the day:
● Toilets on the DKG floor will be designated for women
● Toilets at the base of the stairs will be designated for men
All tap water is safe to drink.
If you have specific access requirements, please let us know in advance so we can make
appropriate arrangements.

Lightweights:
The small room immediately to your left as you enter the DKG is where we’ll conduct weigh-ins,
which can happen immediately on your arrival - just grab Mike Hughes who will be overseeing this.

Date:

Sunday 9th November

Entries Opening: 

Tuesday 7th October

Entries Closing:

Student Deadline: Tuesday 4th November at 23:59

Institution Administrator approval deadline: Thursday 6th November at 23:59

Venue: 

The Edge University of Leeds Willow Terrace Rd Leeds LS2 9JT

Running order:

All entries that are approved will be accepted into the event

BUCS Championship 2km

              Open/Women/Lightweight

              £8.25 through BUCS or £7.50 non BUCS entries

BUCS Para 1km

              Open/Women

              £8.25 through BUCS or £7.50 non BUCS entries

BUCS Beginner 1km

              Open/Women

£8.25 through BUCS or £7.50 non BUCS entries

BUCS Sprint 250m
              Open/Women

              £5 through BUCS or £4.50 non BUCS entries

Relay 2km

              Teams of

              £1pp non BUCS entries

Cost to enter:

Championship, Int and Beginner races - £8.25

250m Sprint - £5

REGISTRATION
Registration opens at 9:30am, please don’t arrive before this time whilst the venue is being set up. All athletes are to register individually, they will be given a registration slip that they must retain and take with them to the race fl oor. For relay teams only 1 member of each team will register the team.
Various toilets and changing rooms are available just follow the signs from inside the sports hall.
There will be adequate space to sit around the edge of the sports hall within your teams when not involved in racing.

TIMETABLE
UIARS 2025 Draft Times

PARKING
There is parking at the Edge, there is also a multistorey a 2 minute walk from the Edge. The Edge has a code for 3 hours free parking. The multistorey is £6 for 6 hours. Multistorey - https://share.google/H7C7qBMcfKCPFJm41

CHANGING FACILITIES / DISABILITY ACCESS
The Edge has multiple changing rooms, bathrooms and accessible facilities. There are gender neutral facilities, as well as separate male and female facilities.

FOOD & DRINK
There will be a refreshment and bake sale from UOLBC within the event hall. Should you want additional items a Tescos, CO-OP and Morrisons are a short walk away, event volunteers will be happy to assist giving directions.

SUSTAINABILITY
The sustainability of our event matters to us and these are the positive steps we are taking to manage our environmental impact:
● All staff and volunteers are encouraged to travel to the event via public transport
● We have used local suppliers where possible
● Event programmes are all online, minimising paper use
● We will print on demand merchandise (if applicable)
● We are beginning to track our carbon footprint across BUCS events to identify areas of improvement.
How can you help at this event? Here’s some ideas:
● Be self-sufficient by bringing your own refi llable bottles and coffee cups to reduce waste
● Ensure you are disposing of waste correctly – Check around the venue for specifi c recycling and food waste bins
● Travel smarter – as a team on a minibus, cycle or use public transport
● Go paperless - use your phone for all event information

Date & Venue:

Saturday 1st November

University of Liverpool Sports and Fitness Centre
Bedford St N
Liverpool
L69 7ZN

There is a car park outside the sports centre and the sports centre is around a 15 minute walk from Liverpool Lime St station.

Entry Dates: 

Entries Opening: Tuesday 7th October

Student Deadline: Tuesday 28th October at 23:59

Institution Administrator approval deadline: Thursday 30th October at 23:59

BUCS run events:

• BUCS Championship Open weight Open / women - 2000m
• BUCS Championship lightweight Open / women - 2000m
• BUCS Open / Women Sprint - 250m
• BUCS Championship adaptive Open / women - 1000m
• BUCS Beginner Open / women - 1000m

Lightweight weights: Men 75.0kg, Women 61.5kg
This is as per BUCS regulations. Any rower who doesn’t make these weights will be allowed to compete in the open category. Weighing in will take place in the upstairs office at registration.

Cost to enter BUCS events:

Championship, Int and Beginner races - £8.25

250m Sprint - £5

Schedule: 

All timings are subject to change based on entries.

Drag factors are set according to BUCS regulations and will be set and checked before the race starts. 

Races will be done in waves of 8 competitors.

All athletes must register for the events 30 minutes before event and in the waiting zone, 15 minutes prior to their race time.

Warm up / Cool down areas:

A warm up room will be open for 1 hour before first event as well as the main room. This will be equipped with ergs/ spin bikes.

Non BUCS events:

• Relays Open / Women / Mixed - 4x1000m
• Sprint Relays Open / Women / Mixed – 4x250m
• Sprint Open / Women - 100m
• Coach race - 750m
• Cox race - 500m
• Spectator race (non-rowers only) - 500m

All informal race entries are to be done at registration on the day. Entry fees will be £5 pp per race with the exceptions of the relays which will be £15 per team and sprint which is £2. Please pay as a club in one go at registration.

Relays – open to the 3 sub-categories: universities, clubs and non-rowers. Medals will be awarded to each of these subcategories within the 3 categories of men, women and mixed. Mixed relays will comprise of 2 men and 2 women. There is no senior/beginner division for relays, all abilities compete together. No other member is allowed to help with changeovers, this must be done amongst the 4 competitors.

Coaches – You are allowed to compete as both a coach and a rower. A coach will be classified as someone who coaches a team but does not compete for that team – captains do not classify.

Coxes – You are allowed to compete as both a cox and a rower. To classify as a cox, you must have cox points on British Rowing and have coxed/be entered to cox for this season.

Spectators – This is open to anyone who is not member of any rowing club. We will be teaching the basic erg pattern to anyone who wants to compete in the lunch break. Please bring friends/family with you to give it a go! 

Additional Information:

There will be food and drink sold at the event.

Medals will be awarded for each category. Any winners of a BUCS race will be sent their medal after the series has finished

Male, female and gender neutral toilets / changing will be available. 

Date:

Saturday 15th November

Entries Opening: 

Tuesday 7th October

Entries Closing:

Student Deadline: Tuesday 11th November at 23:59

Institution Administrator approval deadline: Thursday 13th November at 23:59

Venue: 

Centre for Sport, Cheney Lane, Headington, Oxford OX3 0GB

Order of the day:

Cost to enter:

Championship, Int and Beginner races - £8.25

250m Sprint - £5

Parking:

• There is no parking on-site at the Headington, Centre for Sport
  • Large coaches (over 33 seaters) must drop off at Clerici
• More traffic management and parking information can be found here
• As of Wednesday 29^th October 2025, Oxford County Council will be introducing an Oxford Congestion Zone in parts of the city, this charge applies to all M1 Vehicles. The roads to avoid nearest our venues would be St Clements Street and St Cross Road, although there are 6 locations in total. The charge is £5 per day and must be paid online by Midnight the following day. Failure to pay this charge, can lead to fines upwards of £70. For more information on this please visit: Oxford's temporary congestion charge for cars | Oxfordshire County Council

Date:

Sunday 16th November

Entries Opening: 

Tuesday 7th October

Entries Closing:

Student Deadline: Tuesday 11th November at 23:59

Institution Administrator approval deadline: Thursday 13th November at 23:59

Venue: 

Ravelin Sports Centre, Cambridge Road, Portsmouth, PO1 2SE

Timings: 

Here is a link to the order of events for the day

Cost to enter:

Championship, Int and Beginner races - £8.25

250m Sprint - £5

Registration:

Inside the sports hall there will be a registration desk set up just inside the door. Report there before the event to register.

Parking:

There is paid on street parking on both Cambridge and Museum Road.

Changing Facilities:

There are changing facilities on site opposite the sports hall.

Food & Drink:

There is a café downstairs in the sports centre which serves food and drink.

Date:

Saturday 15th November

Venue: 

Physical Education Centre, Main Hall, Queens University Belfast

Entries Opening: 

Tuesday 7th October

Entries Closing:

Student Deadline: Tuesday 11th November at 23:59

Institution Administrator approval deadline: Thursday 13th November at 23:59

Timings: 

Competition - 10:00 - 14:30

Prize giving - 17:00

Cost to enter:

Championship, Int and Beginner races - £8.25

250m Sprint - £5

Food & Drink:

No food or drink is being supplied on site, so please bring food and drink with you

Spectator Viewing:

Available on the balcony

Date:

Sunday 9th November

Entries Opening: 

Tuesday 7th October

Entries Closing:

Student Deadline: Tuesday 4th November at 23:59

Institution Administrator approval deadline: Thursday 6th November at 23:59

Venue: Surrey sports park, Richard Meyjes Rd Guildford GU2 7AD

Timings: 

Registration - 0800 (Lightweight Weigh In) 0900 Openweight

Racing Commences at 1000 for Championship Events & 1115 for Beginner Events

Cost to enter:

Championship, Int and Beginner races - £8.25

250m Sprint - £5

GB Rowing Team Senior and U23 Selection Trials - British Rowing

All BUCS entries must go through BUCS play following suit of our normal process. A £1.50 admin fee will be taken for each entry and this entry allows BUCS points to be allocated to those successful participants.