Day 1 of the world rowing indoor championships at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, Ont., was full of world records and historic moments, with many more expected Sunday.

The action began with 91-year-old Alida Kingswood of Woodstock, Ont., shattering the world record in the lightweight 2,000 metres for those aged 90-94. She was cheered by the home crowd and even by other competitors, beating the old mark by more than 90 seconds.

Kingswood finished in 10 minutes 33.30 seconds and remarkably looked like she could have gone another 2,000 metres.

“I do it for my children and my grandchildren. I’m not a grandmother that does crafts with the kids or bakes cookies,” Kingswood said afterwards.

Kingswood just gets on an indoor machine and goes to the gym almost every day, even if some people are surprised.

“People say, ‘Wow, I couldn’t do that. But you can if you want to [do so].'”

4 other world records fall

There were four other world records set on Saturday, including the men’s mark over 2,000 metres (70-74 age bracket) which saw Richard Stout edge fellow Canadian Phil Monckton in 6:44. The latter won a bronze medal with the Canadian rowing team at the 1984 Olympics.

“Being fit and doing what I’m doing at my age, I’m pretty happy with it,” Monckton said.

The day was also big for the tiny Faroe Islands, located between Iceland and Norway with only 58,000 people.

The team, with six athletes from the tiny island where rowing is the national sport, won three world championship gold, including 18-year-old Mattias Durhuus in the men’s 500.

“It puts the Faroe Islands on the map,” Durhuus said. “People are aware of what we are, where we are and how much indoor rowing means to us,” he added.

Indoor worlds are taking place in Canada for the first time and making history on many fronts. It is World Rowing’s first hybrid event with more than a thousand of the top rowers in the world competing on the arena floor joined by several hundred competing virtually.

According to cbc.ca. Source of photos: internet