CHESTER’S riverside was a hive of activity on Saturday as hundreds of rowers from across England and Wales competed in Grosvenor Rowing Club’s Dee Autumn Head.
This year’s sun-kissed edition of the annual event will be remembered for some high-quality rowing, but also for the poignant tribute that started the day as the Grosvenor women’s double led the crews down the course in memory of the late Karen Hough.
Once the action got under way it was the King’s School Chester’s first eight that produced the fastest time of the day, a rapid 12 minutes and two seconds.
Royal Chester Rowing Club also had reason to cheer as their nine-medal haul was equalled only by Trentham Boat Club.
Royals enjoyed four victories in the morning division, with their men’s masters E coxed four emerging triumphant along with their men’s intermediate two eight, their women’s masters D eight and Ollie Cocklin in the intermediate two single sculls.
The club’s women’s intermediate three eight then went on to be crowned the fastest women’s crew of the day as they won their race. Royals’ lightning-fast men’s masters D eight were also successful, as were their men’s intermediate coxed four, Jack McGarva Jnr in the J16 singles and Alex Bain in the J15 singles.
Grosvenor, whose boats bore black ribbons as a mark of respect for their life member Karen, enjoyed success of their own.
Their men’s senior quad and women’s masters coxed four – including last-minute stand-in Carolyn Pollard – powered to victories as did Tim Betteridge in the men’s elite singles and Roxi Parkinson and debutant Helen Rowlands in the women’s novice doubles.
Queen’s Park High School Rowing Club’s J15 quad, consisting Joel Langmead, Leon Langmead, Struan Fishburn, James McDermott and cox Daniel Wallace, were triumphant, while there were second-placed finishes for Leon Langmead in the J14 single sculls, Joel Langmead in the J15 singles, Daniela Hyatt in the WJ15 singles and Lucy Clegg in the WJ14 singles.
See page 100 for tributes to Karen Hough.
