It was a game of two halves on the tidal stretch of the River Tyne for the third weekend of this years LDS series.
The LDS morning race saw fine, if not balmy conditions, greeting the large number of HRC athletes racing upstream over 4500m from Scotswood to Newburn.
14 HRC crews competed, with J18 quad finishing second overall, winning junior quads in a time of 15.57 (image below).
The ladies masters quad were the fastest ladies crew in 17.36, whilst the womens J18, (Nicholson), and J16, (Taylor), double sculls also won their events in 18.42 and 20.22 respectively.
There were notable results for several other Hexham crews, ranging from J16 singles to Masters GI, (65 to 75 years old), doubles. That’s an age spread of nearly 60 years between the youngest and oldest HRC competitors!
In the afternoon, the SBH race was preceeded by a slightly different competition at the start, as crews competed to shelter under Scotswood bridge from the driving rain.
Indeed, the conditions were so poor that the race organisers decided to shorten the course, moving the finish down stream to below NUBC landing.
Although, it was apparent that not all crews had heard the news of the shortened course and were slightly bemused at the new position of the finish sign, several hundred metres before they were expecting it…
Nevertheless, Hexham put out some further great paddles, from the 8 crews racing, with wins in Masters EFG4x, (Composite), 3rd overall in a time of 15.06, WJ18 quad, (Nicholson), winning in 17.33 and the J18 quad, despite posting a time of 15.22, being pipped by Durham School.
The ladies coxless four were fastest in their event in 19.52, with no overall prize and there were notable races by the WJ18 4x, (Raine), WJ16 quad, W2x, (Teague) and the WJ17 2x, (Findlay).
Well done to everyone who raced at Tyne, especially those who raced twice. Another 6 wins from Hexham RC in the LDS race series. Results can be found here: LDS results and SBH results. Thank you to the event organisers and to Julia, Michael and Roy for towing the trailers.