Last month, Tenby Rowing Club competed once again, together with the 300 or so boats that make up the Great River Race. This race is open to any oar-powered boat that has fixed seating. It is a very colourful and magnificent spectacle.
Boats from many countries participate and come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from genteel old-fashioned 'let's have an afternoon jaunt on the river' type boats to thundering dragon boats with their drummers keeping the rowers strictly on task and in time! Like last year, great fun was had by all.
The race is not an easy one, 22 miles along the Thames, dodging all the other competitors and pleasure craft out on the river to cheer us all on and count themselves lucky that they could sit back relaxing with a glass of something cool and not have to slog for an average of three hours!
This year, the race was upstream. The start was near Canary Wharf and the finish at Richmond, and was a much better race. We were able to get the difficult choppy waters near Tower Bridge out of the way while we were still fresh and then enjoy all the sights of London as we progressed. As we rowed towards the finish at Richmond, people lined all the bridges and the river banks shouting encouragement, which, as we had been rowing solidly for nearly three hours by then, was a great source of renewed and much-needed inspiration!
Tenby entered two teams. The men's boat, crewed by Frank Miller, Gary James, Steve Hicks, Dan Thomas and Gerald Hewitt, with Raj as passenger, finished the race in two hours 43 minutes, crossing the finish line at a blistering rate of eight knots.
The women's team was a joint venture between Tenby and Wisemans bridge, who once again kindly loaned us two of their best rowers! This team, consisting of Polly James, Elinor Brewer, Sandra Ayris, Bunty Hunt and Helen Brewer, with Daniel Brewer coxing, clocked a time of two hours 50 minutes, just seven minutes behind the men. This time was enough to secure the ladies second place in their category, being just one minute behind the winning team, and an improvement on the third place they gained last year. This success was due in part to the threat of Llanion ladies, who were just behind us for most of the race and keeping the girls from slacking!
Much celebration was the order of the day at the after-race party!
If the thought of having a go yourself next year has sparked your interest in joining the club, then just come along to South Beach car park at about 9.30 on a fine-weathered Sunday morning and meet us. Alternatively, phone Helen on 07870627744 for more details.
H.B.