THE Dee Autumn Head, hosted by Grosvenor Rowing Club, has proved once again to be a storming success.
A record entry of more than 500 rowers, representing 24 clubs from as far afield as Bradford, Bridgnorth and Bangor, pitted their wits on the 4,000m course between Eccleston and Dee Lane in near-perfect weather conditions.
Of the 49 events to take place, Chester clubs triumphed in an impressive 26 classes, led by Royal Chester (10), The King’s School (seven), Grosvenor (five), Queen’s Park High School (three) and Chester University (one).
Grosvenor’s Tim Betteridge, racing IM1 in the 1X, strived to better the second-placed finish he achieved in the Chester Long Distance Sculls – and he did just that, beating his nearest rival, a King’s School rower, by five seconds.
Grosvenor’s veterans maintained their fine form, taking gold medals in the Vet C/D quad and, courtesy of Phil Hill and Maria Labedzka respectively, the VetC 1X and Women’s Vet NOV 1X as well. Grosvenor’s IM2 coxed four also tasted success with a comfortable 55-second victory.
Chester high schools enjoyed a day to remember.
In the women’s J14AX+, the King’s School took top spot from Northwich Rowing Club by 0.5 seconds while it was equally tight in the IM3 single sculls, with Queen’s Park’s Chris Thomas seeing off his King’s School opponent by 0.6 seconds.
The King’s School’s Senior 4X recorded the fastest sculling time of the day, powering across the line in 13.06 minutes followed by Royal Chester’s J18A 4X, who brought home a time just 2.2 seconds behind the squad of seniors.
Mike Allwood, event chairman, said: “Thanks to a record entry and lovely balmy autumn weather, all the hard work in preparation was rewarded by a great day of rowing.”
Grosvenor Rowing Club would like to extend a huge ‘thank you’ to sponsors Matthew Clark, Ahoy Boats, Chester Whiskey & Liqueur Co, Yana Photography, The Bike Factory, Mankind, Triactive, Byrom Clark Roberts, Arc Recruitment, Blue Leaf Advertising & DesignŠandŠShrink Architects.
Queens Park High School fielded a large number of boats in the Dee Autumn Head. Of these, Chris Thomas (IM3 1X), Daniella Hyatt (WJ15A 1X), Ozzy Ghobadi and Scott Wallace (IM3 2X), and Craig Roberts and Yousef Khalifa (J14A 2X) were first in their groups. In second place were Joel Langmead, Khalifa, James McDermott, Leon Langmead and cox Zac Bakir (J14 A4X+), and Chris McCarntney and Leon Langmead (J14A 2X).
Visit www.deehead.org.uk for the full list of results from the Dee Autumn Head.
