HK rowers need bigger builds to be competitive, admits coach

Size does matter.

That was the lesson learned at the Asian Games according to national rowing coach Chris Perry after he watched China's rowers storm to a clean sweep in the gold medal stakes in Pattaya last week.

Although Perry was more than satisfied with the efforts of the SAR's Asian Games rowing squad, which included two silver medals for single sculler Fenella Ng Gar-loc, the English coach was left under no illusions about Hong Kong rowing's place in the region's pecking order.

'I think the one thing I've seen here is that the rowers at the top level have got bigger and that physically we have a bit of catching up to do,' Perry said.

'Whether that means we are going to have to adjust training to include more work with weights I'm not sure yet. But there's been a big increase in size and strength across the board and it is something we will need to address,' he added.

The performances of China's rowers in Thailand suggested they will be the dominant force in Asian rowing for years to come, comprehensively beating their traditional rivals Japan in all categories.