durham
regatta
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Durham University have had a close affiliation with the Regatta for a number of years and their Dean of Experience Dr Peter
Warburton OBE took the time to tell us more about their involvement in rowing.
He explained, “Durham University is a British Rowing high performance centre for men and women at both lightweight and
heavyweight. Durham University won the British Universities rowing regatta from 2004–2013, a ten year run of success.”
“Approximately 1,500 students row at Durham and we put over 500 first years through a learn to row programme each year
giving them the chance to take part in a new sport for the first time.
“The Durham Regatta attracts lots of crews from the region and is heavily supported by Durham University Colleges who
would see this as one of their biggest events of the year. On the heavily used short course it is possible to see most of the race.
On a nice weekend it is a beautiful setting and allows for large numbers to picnic on the river bank – a fantastic day out!
“For this year the university students will continue as usual but the former students are hoping to take part in races
replicating a bygone era as well. University rowing has been tied into the regatta for many years and the regatta board
includes among others Durham School, Durham University and Durham City Rowing Club and all three work closely with
other members of the Board to make this event work each year and to help rowing on the Wear.
“It is hoped that the partnership will live on for many years to come. The regatta is highly successful, very well run each
year by many volunteers from the rowing world of Durham and the surrounding areas. It is one of the sporting highlights of
the Cities calendar for sport.”
IMAGE courtesy of michael watson
SportsFocal Lenses
What are they: Multifocal spectacle lenses designed specifically for individual sports
The lens designs are sport specific and will generally mean altering the bifocal positioning and/or changing the optical centres of the lens depending
on the demands of the particular sport.
For example:
SportsFocal for Golf
The Current problem
Standard bifocal and varifocal spectacle lenses are optimised for everyday
living. They are designed to have the distance prescription at the top of the
lens and the reading prescription at the bottom of the lens.
The compromise for a golfer with this arrangement is that when looking
down through the reading portion of the lens you cannot see your feet, or
a golf ball. Varifocal lenses also introduce distortions into the outside part
of the lens so often your eyes are not positioned in the correct part of the
lens for playing golf.
Single vision lenses do solve these problems but this means changing
glasses to comfortably read or fill in a score card.
The Solution
Sportfocals for Golf are multifocal lenses optimised for playing golf and
they incorporate two special features:
The reading segment is placed where it does not interfere with either putting or driving, but where the score card can still be easily filled in.
Generally this means for a right handed player the right lens will be single
vision and the left lens will be a bifocal. The bifocal segment is smaller than
normal and is generally placed at a 45 degree angle from the bottom of the
frame. This enables the golfer’s down gaze to be unaffected by the bifocal
segment, but the score card can be filled in by moving slightly to the left.
The optical centre of the lenses are placed where needed to optimally see
the golf ball rather than for everyday viewing.
Who would benefit from Sportfocals for Golf
Sportfocals for golf are designed for golfers who need a different prescription for distance and reading. They would suit any existing bifocal or
varifocal wearer.
18 Issue 07