I’m looking for info and advice on rowing clubs in the above areas.
Background: I (and my partner) don’t currently live in Switzerland, but we’re looking to relocate to Switzerland in early 2024 - job dependant. We were originally looking at Lausanne (due to potential post-docs in machine learning / AI for him) but I work in the international charity finance space, so Geneva is proving significantly easier for my English-speaking job hunt. So we’re potentially looking to live anywhere between Geneva and Lausanne. (And I have extensively looked at this forum’s advice on commuting and living in and around both places.)
For us a big factor in choosing where to focus both job and living efforts is access to sports, which is going to be fine for cycling (him) and running and hiking (both) wherever we look, but rowing (me) at an amateur competitive level is less clear.
Rowing background: For skill level, I used to row lightweight 8+ in Cambridge, and got back into the sport at Thames Rowing Club in London for a few years, though I’ve had a break thanks to an array of injuries, Covid and illness (though TRC masters group are now regularly suggesting I should come back and join them instead of the main squad).
I’d be looking for something like a W4 or W8, preferably with choice to row competitively in the normal squad or with a (young) masters group. What clubs in the area should I be looking at? Is there plenty of choice or is it all concentrated in one area (rather like London is predominantly on the Putney embankment)? I prefer sweep but can scull - does that change anything?
Also, I would only be using public transport / cycling to get to-from all locations.
The more info people have, the better - I’m sure I’ll find that visiting potential clubs in person is best, but I can’t do that atm and I tend to find the rowing community is the best starting point!
Thanks so much for any guidance 🙏