By Rebecca Drew
A GROUP of hunky university rowers have produced their raciest calendar yet by stripping off and posing naked to promote gender equality and LGBT rights.
The 2020 instalment shows men from Warwick University’s rowing team posing nude in a series of steamy shots.
The men are pictured lounging by the pool with only strategically placed towels and adorable dogs protecting their modesty, standing proudly with just an oar to conceal their private parts and flaunting their muscular naked bodies overlooking the sea.
Other shots show the men frolicking on a building site completely starkers and playfully covering themselves in purple powder paint.
Formerly known as the Warwick Rowers, they’ve relaunched as Worldwide Roar for their 2020 calendar which is their eleventh edition.
The aim of this year’s campaign is to promote LGBT rights and gender equality but to also change the way men are viewed by society.
“We started Warwick Rowers to challenge homophobia. But research at Sport Allies, the registered charity that now receives all WR profits, shows that homophobia is part of a bigger problem; straight men still get a different deal to everybody else,” said project founder and creative director, Angus Malcolm.
“We need to keep challenging homophobia and promoting LGBT rights, but we also need to address gender inequality and encourage better male mental health.
“We believe it [the calendar] is a relevant yet engaging way to confront how we feel able to look at men, and how men see themselves. Happily, both our participants and our supporters around the world seem to agree.”
The Worldwide Roar calendar was shot in London and in Spain and is available to buy from their website alongside a range of other products for just ÂŁ14.99.
Money raised will go to the charity, Sport Allies, which promotes sport as an inclusive and supportive route to personal growth for everyone.
Undergraduate rower, Amir Bouchard, who has appeared in three calendars spoke about how Worldwide Roar is now encouraging men from all over the world to join them.
“We were a bunch of rowers at one English university. There weren’t many men from different backgrounds, ethnicities, sexualities and age groups, and it was getting in the way of our message of inclusion. So we asked for help, and got an amazing response,” said Amir.
“British Rowing, Sky Sports, Sport England and many other organisations showed they really get what we are doing. They happily jumped in and helped us spread the word to other athletes.
“This fantastic support led to our biggest, most diverse shoot ever for our new calendar cover, which we shot at Royal Docks Adventure in East London with their very kind support.
“I think those of us from the original Warwick team felt such a sense of pride to be there alongside athletes of different ages, ethnicities and sexualities from a range of sports, including top stars from the GB rowing team and our very first trans man.
“There were nearly fifty men there: men who were different from each other in so many ways, but who had come to Royal Docks to stand naked together for a shared belief.”
The Worldwide Roar 2020 calendar can be purchased here for ÂŁ14.99: worldwideroar.org/index.php?route=product/product&path=100&product_id=275
For more information see worldwideroar.org/index.php?route=product/product&path=100&product_id=275
