CANOEING: A WEEKEND of rough weather greeted Chester canoeists at the first sprint regatta of the season at the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham.
Racing had to be suspended in the middle of Saturday due to extremely gusty conditions, and some 1,000-metre races for juniors were changed to 200m races as the conditions were not so extreme near the finish at the 200m mark.
In the Boys' A event, Gareth Williams finished fifth in K1 1,000m Final Three. In K2, he paddled with Richard Etheridge from Wey Canoe Club and they finished fifth in Final One of the 500m. In the 1,000m, they were second in Final Two.
In Boys' D, Josh Cowburn entered his first regatta and in K1 500m, finished fifth in Final Three. He also got a race in a K4 boat with three other boys and they finished fifth in K4 500m.
In Girls' B, Kim Dawson and Victoria Swallow were fifth in 1,000m K2 class. They were seventh in K2 500m and in Girls' C, Victoria paddled in K1 and was sixth in the 500m and the 1,000m.
In Girls' D, Jenny Swallow and Caroline Rowlands paddled most of the races. They paddled with two girls from Bath in K4 and finished third in 1,000m and 500m.
In K2, the 1,000m race was reduced to 200m and they finished sixth in Final One. In Girls' D K1, Jenny was third in Final Three and Caroline sixth. Caroline and Jenny did the heat of the 500m K2 but decided the conditions were too rough to go out for the final.
Jenny Swallow travelled to Elmbridge in Surrey over the Easter weekend to take part in there annual under-16 half-marathon. She was second in the U13 age group and beat all of the U15 age group.
Several Chester paddlers went to Runcorn for their annual marathon on the River Weaver.
In his first marathon, Phil Distal jumped straight to Division Seven and won, but wasn't fast enough to get promoted, while Margaret Blakeborough was seventh, closely followed by Rodney Stallworthy.
In Division Six, Andrew Parkinson was second and Dave Madeley third, while in Division Fivec Roger Williams took an excellent second place with Graham Bulmer fourth, Adele Blakeborough fifth and Bob Scholey seventh.
In Division Two/Three/Four K1 combined, Ian Clarke was third with Liz Holmes fourth and in Division Five/Six and Seven/Eight K2, Colin Smith and Brian McNulty paddled their white-water Canadian double canoe to an excellent third place.
A K1 assessment race for the British marathon team took place on the River Thames at Elmbridge Canoe Club, Surrey. Veteran paddler Melvin Swallow was in the main senior race and finished ninth.
Daughter Victoria was in the junior girls' event and, after interrupted training due to illness, finished ninth.
