All of the members and supporters of Llanion Warriors Rowing Club (founded in 2007) gathered at the Old Kings Arms Hotel, Pembroke, on Friday, for their second annual dinner.

The club was celebrating the achievements of the past season's competition in the Coastal League programme (under the auspices of the WSRA) and various international challenge races, which stretched between March and September.

The league is presently comprised of 33 registered teams (of which 25 were active during the season), that stretch around the Welsh coast, from Anglesey to Mumbles. There is also a team from Shropshire, who regularly travel to compete in the league events. The WSRA website carries a full archive of race results and league tables.

Llanion teams fared reasonably well; overall, on total points scored, the club finished 12th in Wales. We are very proud of this result, particularly when considering that the club has a much smaller group of active rowers, than some of the larger clubs, who can enter larger numbers of teams in a wider range of race categories.

In the South League (which compares performances for all teams south of Aberystwyth) the Men's Seniors (18 - 40 yrs) finished 7th, the Vets (40 - 49 yrs) finished 7th, but unfortunately, the Supavets (aged 50+) narrowly missed out on retaining their title, for the third year, by one point to Newport (Pembs). Well done to them, we thoroughly enjoyed the battles throughout the season.

The Ladies Seniors finished 11th, Vets 11th, and Supavets 3rd. In the Mixed category, the Seniors finished 12th, the Vets 12th, whilst the Supavets Mixed crew also relinquished their South League title to an excellent Fishguard crew.

In the Joint League (which combines results for all league teams), Men's Seniors finished 11th and Supavets 3rd. The Ladies Vets finished 5th, whilst the Mixed Seniors finished 10th and the Supavets 2nd.

Also during the season, club teams competed in what we called the 'Grand Slam', which included the 'Castle to Castle' 13-mile race between Beaumaris and Caernarvon, the Ocean to City 15-mile race around Cork city, the 23-mile Cleddau Marathon and the Great River Race (the 23-mile marathon between Millwall and Ham, on the Thames, in London). The Senior mixed team rowed exceptionally well and won awards in Caernarvon, Cork and London.

The club is extremely grateful to Norman and Shirley, the proprietors of the hotel, and their staff, for the excellent food and service. We also sincerely thank Celtic Wines, Evan Evans and Felinfoel Breweries for their generous support.

Hundleton Church reps, Graham Sheppard and Keith Wheeler provided rich entertainment, in the form of a horse racing card (of six races), which certainly raised everyone's heartrates on the night. The proceeds from the race card were donated to the Hundleton Church fund.

Some of the amusing memories and rowing performances from the season were recounted during the chairman's address and members were given a variety of awards. A video from the London race was premiered and the awards section of the evening culminated with the award of 'The Balde' (the club's premier award) to Mrs. Lynne Jelley for her memorable performance in Carnarvon.

The club is anticipating an equally challenging 2014 season. Alongside the usual league programme, in May there will be the Celtic Challenge (100K row from Arklow in Eire to Aberystwyth), with the Castle to Castle, Eddystone Challenge (28 miles out from Plymouth around the Eddystone Lighthouse and back), Cleddau Marathon and Great River Race presenting a full programme for the year.

The club has a very strong charitable ethos and the Celtic Challenge is our opportunity to put something into the local community, as we use it to raise funds for local charities, £16.5k having been raised over the past six years.

We are always looking to recruit new members and anyone interested in joining to enjoy some fun and improve their fitness, can contact us through, [email protected]">[email protected] or call Darrell on 01646 682291/07966 182122, Richard 01646 682204.

Our AGM will take place in February and we are hoping to play our part in Pembroke Dock's 200-year celebrations in August.

D.W.