It only took nearly twenty years to address, but high school rowing teams will no longer be able to have year 14 students in their crews.

These were young people in their 6th year of secondary school. 

They gave their crews an advantage because they’d had an extra year of training and development. 

It's been a bugbear of many schools wanting a level playing field.

Many of the year 14s were back at school finishing their academic work so they could take advantage of rowing scholarships, but the schools still included them in their rep crews.

Critics of that decision said the problem was not just the young adults themselves but also the others at school who missed out on a place because of the year 14s.

The first moves to police the practice involved age limits, but it still saw year 14 students with birthdays just after the cutoffs competing. 

They still brought the advantage of an extra year of training.

So now year 14s are gone. And that’s a good thing. 

It’s stopped the attitude of schools who believed in win at any cost. It’s returned fairness in sport.

And it showed those struggling with rules on trans gender athletes who have been through puberty that it’s possible to be fair if you’re clear minded and decisive.