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Historic Competitions

See below for news regarding our club and its participation in rowing competitions and award events from 2023 and earlier. As you can see, we have some notable victories and, more importantly, some great memories from our time spent competing with other clubs both in the UK and abroad.

2023

2022

2021

4 crews competed at Maidstone Small Boats Spring Head, including 2 crews consisting members representing the club for their first time!

Ruta Aisthorpe, Natalie Cole, Hazel Davey and Ilona-May Hall, coxed by Douglas Kergall, were the first of the crews, mainly consisting the first time racers, to complete the 2.5km course, completing it in 11:31, finishing third in their event.

Rosie Brennan, Helen Cox, Hazel Davey and Ilona-May Hall, coxed by Douglas Kergall, completed the course in 11:58.

Jason Davis and James Ross competed in their first head race, completing the course in 11:12.

Douglas Kergall and Mohan Dell competed, completing the course in 9:50 and finishing third in their category.

Liz McVeigh competed in the Women’s Head of the River on Saturday 4th March in a composite crew with Upper Thames, Wallingford, Strathclyde Park and Wycliffe College (crew number 107 – the Sheffield member of the crew had to drop out with a dislocated shoulder). Liz is not saying that her inclusion was entirely due to offering sufficient years to get them into the Masters F category, but it definitely helped… Liz had won Masters F eights at Henley Masters in July 2022 with four of the crew (see previous report) and has tentatively agreed to go to the Head of the Charles (in Boston, Massachusetts) with this crew who are still recovering from their second place last year, by less than a second, and wish to return in triumph.

As you can imagine therefore, they were not amused to find themselves second again on 4th March… and, even worse for some, to a Wallingford crew (https://wehorr.org/results/). Liz, on the other hand, was delighted to have completed the race at rates of 32 and above the whole way, and enjoyed the fact that the weather was not quite as cold as in the lead up or, indeed, directly afterwards.

The fact that the winning Wallingford crew was also in the over 60 category and not only won the Masters’ event on handicap, but also on overall time, suggests that they are quite a crew to be reckoned with – so the gap of 6 seconds to Liz’s composite crew (with their first full practise together on the morning of the race) is perhaps not such a disaster as the crew made out… Two crews were less than a second faster than Liz’s crew but they were in younger categories, so Liz’s crew were second overall on handicap.

Liz cannot recommend enough the joy of competing in one of the main heads of the river in London – it is such an enriching experience and so good to see so many others out on the water – over 300 women’s eights were on the water on 4th March. If you really have nothing better to do, you can see shots of Liz’s crew at 52 minutes 53 seconds and Wallingford at 54 minutes and 3 seconds on this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy2gJDze3Qk. But if you wish to look at some real rowing, watch the first few crews across the line (around 13 minutes 50 seconds) – wonderful!

Liz will also be competing with her more usual composite crew (Bedford, City of Sheffield, Kingston and Leander) in the Vets Head on Sunday 19th March – more on this to follow….

7 crews competed at Bedford Fours and Small Boats Head, a 2km course which saw 1 win.

Mike Frith competed and won in the singles Masters F/H category, completing the course in 9:29, beating second place by 30 seconds.

Robin Philpott, John Coul, Graham Mitchell-Hill and Martin Miller raced in the Masters C quad, finishing third in the category with a race time of 6:48, the 35th fastest crew of the day.

Douglas Kergall and Mohan Dell in a Masters A double, finishing fourth in their category and completing the course in 7:17. They also raced in an open pair, finishing second in their category, completing the course in 7:31.

Other crews that raced were Natalie Cole, James Ross, Jason Davis and Robin Philpott in a Masters C quad (7:44), James Ross and Jason Davis in a Masters C double (8:30), and Ruta Aisthorpe in a Women's Masters C single (8:41).

Medway saw 7 crews compete at Danson Dashes, a 500m course.

Of the crews competing, Mark and Will Somers won their semi-final and final in the open double category, bringing home the win for the club.

James Ross and Jason Davis competed in the Masters C double, where they succeeded in making it to the final, but unfortunately were beaten.

Other crews that competed consisted of members where it was their first race for the club!

Tianna McCormack competed in her first two races for the club: one with Natalie , Hazel Davey and Ilona May-Hurrell in a women's coxless quad, and with Rosie Brennan, Helen Cox and Hazel in a women's coxed quad.

Gesan Nackier and Kieron Eastwood competed in their first race in the Masters C coxless quad with Jason and James, and Gesan rowed in another crew with Mark, Will and Mohan Dell, in the open coxless quad category.

October 2023 our very own Liz McVeigh flew to the states to take part in the head of the Charles in Boston in the composite eight, The race is three miles long/ 4,702 meters, they entered category of Women's Grand Master Eights - 60+ and her crew finished an amazing second place in category and beating the course record by just over 22 seconds, at 17 minutes 58.165, losing out to the top spot by only 6 seconds.

Despite her second place Liz returned very happy with her trip and mentioned "that it is a great event and well worth going, if you ever get the opportunity. I had to wait 70 years to get there, but thoroughly enjoyed it!"