From Lowestoft to Los Angeles - that is the target for a group of rowers.
With the International Olympic Committee having announced that beach sprint rowing - a format of the coastal rowing discipline - is to be included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games programme, alongside classic rowing, an initiative to increase the number of people participating in the sport is under way.
It led to a local rowing club holding a beach sprint event in Lowestoft.
Jeni Barnacle, co-lead for the Lowestoft Coastal Sculling Academy and project lead for the East Anglia youth rowing for Lowestoft schools pilot, said: "We hosted our inaugural event on Lowestoft south beach on Sunday which we called 'The Lowestoft Last Light Beach Sprint Regatta' but sadly conditions were not ideal.
"Thanks to the British weather we had wind over tide, and it was too rough to get the boats onto the open water.
"It is always a balance with beach sprints between not too calm and not too rough and the swell was too bad on Sunday, so our safety boat crews said it was too risky."
It led to an adapted event as those attending - none who had ever done beach regatta before - were given the experience of learning new skills.
Ms Barnacle said: "The beach sprint format sees a beach start with participants running to their boats on the water's edge.
"They then row out around three buoys, slalom-style, for 250m then row back to the beach.
"We had ten pairs of rowers competing against each other to practise the beach starts and getting into and out of the boats in the surf before racing to the finish line."
Fine turnout
It attracted people from rowing clubs across Norwich, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Worthing - as well as someone who has been in the New Zealand world championship team, who was visiting relatives but raced on the day.
Ms Barnacle said: "Lowestoft Coastal Sculling Academy is linked in a joint project with Lowestoft Rowing Club.
"We have six different more stable sculls to use at the club which have been given to us by British Rowing to develop beach sprints in Lowestoft.
"People can just turn up to use the boats that are already here which means it is more inclusive.
"Our next step will see us working back on Oulton Broad doing taster and training sessions to identify talent from juniors upwards leading to an event at Oulton Broad in March 2025 which will use beach sprint skills."
Visit the Lowestoft Rowing Club website and social media.
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