A pair of C1X coastal rowing boats, obtained by the University of Malta Rowing Club through funding by the National Lotteries Good Causes Fund, will serve to kickstart coastal rowing in Malta.

These two boats will be named after two distinguished University of Malta alumni, namely Tessie and Temi, for Tessie Camilleri, the first female graduate from the University of Malta, and Temi Zammit, a known archaeologist and previous Rector of the Royal University of Malta.

Coastal rowing is different from the flat-water Olympic-style rowing in that it does not follow a straight line, and thus requires a different set of skills to master. It involves rowing along a sea coast and out into the sea, involves an awareness of tides and currents, as well as the topography of the coast. This is a new sport in Malta, and an achievement for the Club, which has sustained steady growth over the past few years.

The inauguration of these two rowing boats was attended by Malta's Minister for Finance & Financial Services, Prof. Edward Scicluna, whose responsibility is to adminiter the Fund. He praised the work of the Rowing Club while auguring that this sport garners the interest of many youths. 

Ms Rebecca Caruana, President of the UM Rowing Club, said that in the 2019-2020 season, over €13,000 worth of funds were invested in this sport, always with more room for improvement both for Indoor and Coastal rowing.

UM Rector, Prof. Alfred J. Vella, who was also present, commented that both the Institute of Physical Education & Sports and University sports student organisations have contributed significantly to aquatic sports in Malta. With almost 200 km and 56 km of coastline respectively, Malta and Gozo offer terrific opportunities for our sports women and men to excel in this discipline and this donation helps facilitate the practice of this activity. 

Anyone who is interested in learning more about this type of sport in Malta may contact the University of Malta Rowing Club via email or via their Facebook Page.