College Crew Team Gets Naked to Fight Homophobia and Bullying
It’s been an enormously exciting week for both the Warwick Rowers and for Sport Allies. And we’re not the only ones excited by last week’s London calendar launch with top actor Sir Ian McKellen – the media have been picking up our story and sharing it all over the world.
We’re all big fans of Buzzfeed here at the boathouse, and we are humbled and flattered that they seem to like us back! Buzzfeed writer Sam Stryker reported that The Naked Rowers are Back and Hotter Than Ever. Sam says: “Just unveiled the 2015 calendar and boy, let’s just say HOMOPHOBIA DOESN”T STAND A CHANCE!” Thank you, Sam!
The mighty Huffington Post also weighed in with Naked Warwick Men’s Rowing Team Make a Splash to Fight Homophobia while The Mail Online headlined the boys with a Phw-oar: Warwick rowers strip off for racy new naked calendar and some prime coverage. As one reader commented: “That just cheered me right up.”
Our local LGBT paper Midlands Zone covered the launch with Sir Ian McKellen and pointed out that Sir Ian is an enthusiastic supporter of Sport Allies.
Winq, the luxury lifestyle for gay men magazine, extensively covered the launch of the 2015 calendar hosted by Sir Ian McKellen at the May Fair hotel in London.
But let’s go back to Sam Stryker’s fun piece in Buzzfeed; how did the Buzzfeed readers rate the photos? It got a 95% YAAASS, which is pretty good.
Now, as Sam says: “it’s your civic duty as a good person to appreciate these British bums.” We agree, and if you want to appreciate our bums, they’re available for viewing in our calendars, films, greeting cards and bonus image downloads. So why not go to directly to our shop and have a look for yourself!
Muscled men baring it all to support a good cause? What’s not to like? (Photo by Angus Malcolm for the Warwick Rowers Club)
The guys of the Warwick Rowers Club— the crew team of the University of Warwick in central England — are rocking the boat with a naked calendar that features tasteful nude photographs of their fit bodies to help fight homophobia.
Since 2009, the team has been producing a yearly nude calendar to support its club. But after learning that many of their fans were gay men, this year the team created Sport Allies, a program that reaches out to young people challenged by bullying, homophobia and low self-esteem.
"With our new Sport Allies initiative, we are making a clear commitment to give an absolute minimum of 10 percent of all profits from every single product we sell," the team said on its website.
Previous calendars have raised more than $300,000 and are now sold in 77 countries.
And they are giving more than money. “Equally importantly, everyone involved in the project, including our professional associates, is committing to give contracted minimum volunteering time to making Sport Allies happen,” said the team.
(Photo by Angus Malcolm for the Warwick Rowers Club)
For its 2015 calendar, the team created a video, featuring outtakes from the shoot (think: spraying hoses at each other) with rowers narrating their story. “We’re getting naked to make a point,” said one rower in the video.
"Regardless of your gender or sexuality we are inviting you into that moment with us," said another.
You can purchase the 2015 calendar, or stationery, posters and prints at WarwickRowers.org.
(Photo by Angus Malcolm for the Warwick Rowers Club)
Though the team has become best known for its naked calendars, they’ve been around since 1966 and have produced Olympic and world-class competitive rowers.
The university’s women’s team also bares all for charity, with 20 percent of its calendar sales benefiting Macmillan Cancer Support.
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