Stroke. Pull. Cox. There, we got the rowing puns out the way early!
The front cover of the 2018 Warwick Rowers calendar has been revealed, along with lots of athletic naked blokes mucking about with water pistols, grapes and what appears to be bed linen.
The cover of this year’s calendar – which can be purchased on their crowdfunder site – is described as “artful” with the boys draping themselves in their club colours.
Meanwhile a hot video has them daubing their bodies in paint and sliding around on a sheet before squirting water pistols at each other. Nothing suggestive there then!
Our favourite bit is when they run into the sea with purple capes like a cross between Harry Potter, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and a frat party.
The Warwick Rowers first got their paddles out for a calendar back in 2009. They weren’t an instant hit but they noticed something only straight blokes could be surprised by: gay guys liked pictures of bottoms.
Once the shock sank in, the sexy scullers realised they had a big market out there and boy have they played to it since and raised money for a good cause at the same time.
Soon gay fans were getting in touch and telling them about the homophobia they’d experienced in sport. That’s when they set up Sport Allies, a charity which gets most of its funding from people buying its classy but very sexy merch’.
Sales of Warwick Rowers products have enabled the foundation of Sport Allies to promote greater LGBT inclusion and more
gender equality in sport. The rowers all class themselves as ‘allies’ and they say sport should help you fulfil your potential, regardless of your gender or sexuality. Hear hear.
There’s a wide perception in the LGBT+ community that team sport isn’t inclusive. According to the NUS, 47% of LGBT+ students who don’t participate in sport say they find the culture around it alienating.
Angus Malcolm, producer of the Warwick Rowers calendar and LGBT rights activist, said: “The calendar, book and films are a bit of fun, but the message behind the nudity is more serious.
“The Warwick Rowers are brilliant sports and great allies to the gay community. They’re straight men confronting their privilege and becoming part of the solution. The nudity in our calendar is therapeutic and purposeful (You can say that again). We’ve been contacted by many people who were bullied by sportsmen at school and find that the Rowers have helped them come full circle.”
These days, the Rowers make big donations each year, and boast celebrity fans: Kylie Minogue, Kris Jenner, Miranda Hart and Sir Ian McKellen.
A range of products are offered on the Crowdfunder. In addition to a calendar of tasteful, playful nude shots (no frontal nudity, mind you), you can buy behind-the-scenes films and a coffee table book to outrage and titillate your granny with. The boys want you to get in quick because all are offered at lower prices ahead of the official launch next month.
