Whilst the final weekend of cricket was taking place at the Oval, the less publicised 32^nd World Rowing Masters Regatta was being held at Strathclyde Country Park in Scotland.  This is the largest regatta in the world, attracting competitors from the age of 27 upwards and several thousand were expected to attend from 34 different countries and all continents.

In typical fashion members of Hexham Rowing Club considered attending the event, but no definite decisions were made until the last minute, ensuring that training was kept to a minimum.  Finally five members of the club convinced themselves that they should take the opportunity to venture north and sample the atmosphere of an international event.  This Regatta would be very different from most events the Club attends with the races taking place on an Olympic-standard 8 lane course.

Gillian Gilbert endured two cold nights in a tent in order to participate in two races.  The Women’s E (age 55-59) single sculls race was scheduled for Friday when conditions on the water were far from ideal, with strong winds.  There were three heats for this event, with Gillian having the misfortune of competing in the fastest race for the category. The following day, conditions had improved for the D single sculls event (age 50-54), although the times were in general slower than the previous day. 

The remaining four members of the club had chosen to race in the mixed events on Sunday, with the draw taking place late on Saturday afternoon.  Kate and Geoff Wilkinson, with their three children performing the task of support team, were to race in their mixed double early on Sunday.  The decision was made, therefore, to forego the delights of a Saturday night in Glasgow and instead retire early to bed.  Early Sunday morning saw various athletes cramming in some last minute training.  However, Geoff, having abstained from alcoholic beverages the previous night, felt that the pleasures of a full English breakfast would provide a better start to the day. 

In the early stages of their C Double Sculls race it appeared that the Hexham pair was ahead of a Norwegian crew.  However, Kate and Geoff were unable to maintain the pace in the closing stages.  Ever determined, Geoff put his head down for the final push and the boat took its familiar banana-shaped course into the next lane.

With increased confidence the couple joined Jane and Rob Upstill-Goddard to compete in one of the last races of the Regatta– the mixed C Quadruple sculls event.  This was a coxless event and steering had been a major concern for the crew during their few training sessions.  Suddenly the buoyed lanes, which had appeared quite generous from the bank, looked a little narrow. 

The good news is that the crew managed to keep within their lane (just), avoided any collisions and came 6^th out of the 8 entered.  The bad news is that only 6 crews raced and Hexham made such a poor start that a collision would have been impossible as their opponents were already well away.  One excuse is that the crew was in an outside lane and was unable to hear the start umpire.  This meant it had to rely solely on the traffic light system changing from red to green - (we’re not sure how Rob managed as he wasn’t aware that there were any traffic lights!).   By the time the crew gained pace the rest of the competitors were mere blots on the horizon.

Although Hexham didn’t win any medals the five can at least say that they have represented Great Britain in an international event (albeit not spectacularly), that they have the T-shirts and that they took advantage of an opportunity which is not likely to occur again in the near future.  Next year the Regatta is being held in New Jersey – the thought of trekking across the Atlantic for a few moments of infamy does not appeal.