Tyne United

A few images of the winning coxless four crew from the World U23 Championships. More are on the gallery page. When images of the coxless double are available they’ll be posted too.

Winning Crew: Men's Lightweight Coxless Four - World U23 Championships 2010

Rose & Will Fletcher - World U23 Championships, Brest, Belarus 2010

Will & Rob Fletcher - World U23 Championships, Brest, Belarus 2010

Two TURC members, Will Fletcher and Kieren Emery, have won medals at the World U23 Championships in Brest, Belarus. Will was competing in the lightweight men’s four along with Jamie Kirkwood, Dave Jones and Jonno Clegg. Fresh from their win at Henley Royal Regatta the lads are now World Champions after taking gold.

Meanwhile Kieren Emery and Ben Rowe racing in the lightweight men’s double scull where they won silver.

Congratulations lads! We’ll post a fuller report and pictures in due course…

Saturday dawned blustery and breezy. Refuelled and rested it was back to Strathclyde Park with the only TURC event today being Finn’s appearance in the J15 1x final.

Helen, Andrew, Alex and Adam had made sure that their charges had been suitably fed and watered the previous evening and with Adam and Alex standing guard Finn managed to get a good night’s sleep. Throughout this weekend Finn has had a lot of support from Pat who, with his usual double partner on holiday, came along to support his team mates. Sunday was to be no different with Pat helping with boat and blades and providing a lot of moral support for his friend.

Finn, Pat & Alex

Finn set off aware that he was up against it today. This would be only the fourth time he’d paddled a 2 km course at race speed (including yesterday’s two occasions) whilst the other competitors had been training hard for this specific event. Delighted to reach the final he nonetheless wanted to do his best for both himself and the club. In the end it became a four boat race in which Finn and one other didn’t figure. They were not far off the pace though and when he crossed the line Finn had recorded his fastest time ever. He was clearly absolutely shattered and so despite being disappointed not to have achieved a medal placing he at least felt he had given his all.

TURC Juniors and coaches at Nat. Champs 2010

It was an early start for the majority of Tyne United’s rowers who heading to the British Rowing Championships today. Andrew and Helen, just back from a stint sailing on a Tall Ship decided that everyone should be up and off by 3 bells of the second watch (stupid o’clock to landlubbers). The only exception being Finn as his parents refused to get up at such a ludicrous hour.

TURC had three boats racing at this year’s Championships. First up were Hannah H and Bianca competing in WJ15 2x. As there were 28 registered competitors, although only 24 started, the first event in this class was a time-trial. Now this was Hannah’s first exposure to lane racing and time-trialling and for both the 2 km length of the course was a step on from their training, which had been primarily focused on shorter regatta events. If that wasn’t enough Friday in Strathclyde Park was more than a little windy with pronounced white horses in the middle, more exposed, section of the course. Nobody could say that the girls didn’t give it their all. Whilst they’d stuck pretty close to their race plan in the end (in Hannah’s own words) they “Just went for it!” A long anxious wait ensued for the results.

Finn was the only boy racing and in his usual J15 1x. Unlike the girls his race was in the format of heats and a repechage. The first in each of the three heats went straight to the final, whilst second and third went to a repechage.

Finn been overheard hoping for a good chop, figuring that the experience gained from rowing on the Tyne would mean that he would have a slight edge as a result. His start wasn’t up to his usual standard, not for any technical reason but because the light on his stake boat was out and he “couldn’t hear the buzzer for that bloody woman on the tannoy.” He was off the start a fraction after the other rowers but quickly got back into contention. This was when he got a wee bit more wind than he’d hoped for and catching a crab, found himself at the back of the pack again. WIth only 250m to go he was lying in fifth place but a late kick brought him back and with 100m to go he was third, then second with less than 50m left and he pushed the eventual winner all the way to the line losing by only a canvas. Never mind he was through to the next round. Chris who’d cycled along the course congratulated Finn on rowing a very “mature” race. Finn’s analysis was that he’d been “S**t“.

During Finn’s event the result of Hannah and Bianca’s time trial came through. Unfortunately they hadn’t made the split. The emphasis now shifted to Molly and Hannah D. They were racing as J16 2x and like Finn were facing a heat-repechage format. The main problem with this format is that if you have the misfortune to get a tough draw you can be eliminated despite having turned in a good time. Molly and Hannah just missed out on progressing as they came in fourth. In the context of Molly having had problems with neuralgic pain in one arm this week this was far from a bad result.

So the focus was now back on Finn. He had a long wait until his repechage; another six lane race including rowers who he’d lost to at Strathclyde Park Regatta earlier in the season. As Finn rowed down to the start the wind picked up with stronger gusts blasting across the course. Finn was determined not to have a repeat of his previous race and set off at a fair lick. It was clear from the commentary for those of us at the end of the course that this was turning into a three horse race, with Finn in contention. With another final kick he gained clear water over the third placed boat finishing a clear second and qualifying for tomorrow’s final.

Finn J15 1x

Boats all lashed down to the trailer Andrew got all the juniors aboard the BCTV minibus and set sail for the hotel they are to stay in overnight. Tomorrow’s another day with hopefully slightly lighter winds. The regatta was halted for a while soon after Finn’s race as the wind was deemed too strong to race but it was hopefully to restart shortly afterwards. After a long day only those camping overnight hung around to find out.

Anyone not going to the British Rowing Championships this weekend but interested in results can use the live results checker: http://res.natchamps.org.uk/

We’ve got competitors in Open J15 1x; W J15 2x & W J16 2x

The weather forecast is pretty grim with high winds and rain.

On Saturday 10th July, a group of 17 bleary teenagers gathered outside Tesco’s in Hexham for Tyne United’s first junior fundraiser. Despite the early (well, 9 o’clock!) start, the squad was full of cheerful enthusiasm for the oncoming bag pack. Armed with orange buckets, the squad trooped into the shop and three and a half hours later emerged triumphant, having raised an impressive £530.50 for equipment.

A huge thank you to all involved, especially Alex Pattinson and Caroline Pringle for supervising – well done!

The U23 Lightweight 4- crew of Jamie Kirkwood (Imperial College and formerly Durham School/ Cambois), Dave Jones and Jonno Clegg (Leander) and Will Fletcher (Durham University and Tyne United)… began their Henley Royal campaign as one of two seeds along with Leander A, a heavyweight crew with over 3 stones per man in their favour. Placed on different sides of the draw both crews convincingly fought their way into Sunday’s ‘Visitor’s Cup’ final, beating off opposition from Molesey, Dart Totness, Thames Tradesmen, Upper Thames/Wallingford, Mitsubishi Japan, Galway/Muckross Ireland, San Fernando Argentina and ANA/Swan River Australia. A strong headwind on Sunday morning appeared to favour the heavy boys and as the proposed 2.40 start was delayed by a champagne bottle bobbing around mid course, the tension built. After a ten minute delay the race began but as the lightweights surged forward through rough water into the expected early lead, two crabs temporarily slowed their pace giving them their slowest time of the regatta to the barrier by several seconds. Regaining their composure, the boys gradually stretched their lead further while spectators awaited the Leander crew’s expected response as they got into their stride. The headwind remained but the lightweights were not going to be caught, stayed ahead throughout and raced faultlessly to a two length victory and appreciative applause.

This makes three Henley Royal wins for 20 year old Will in three consecutive years, also three for Dave and two consecutive wins for Jonno. Impressive to say the least! More photos are on the ‘Gallery‘ page (scroll down to the bottom of the page).

One event that was overlooked by our otherwise keen eyed, on-the-spot reporter at Talkin Tarn regatta was the WJ15 2X second heat, featuring Clare and Caitlin. Inspired by the effort of Bianca and Hannah in the first heat our girls got away to an explosive start in a 3 lane race. This was more of a surprise to them than anyone else, having suffered ‘technical difficulties’ on so many start lines this season. The ambition here was to row cleanly and to see how good they could be (next year?). With 2 crews qualifying for the final, St Leonards were targeted as the crew to beat, as the St Peters crew was known to have championship experience. As expected, St Peters dominated from the start, but the race between St Leonards and Tyne United was close and ‘competitive’ throughout.

As the boats came close together in mid race, one of the St Leonards girls shouted “move over Tyne”, suggesting that Clare had perhaps steered off course!; Clare was having none of it and responded quite correctly with “Shove off, your in our lane!!!”. Caitlin decided to keep a low profile from this point on, but was a little excited by this new turn of events. perhaps there was more to rowing than she had previously realised!

From this point on, every call from St Leonards for a ‘push for 10’ was matched by our girls, and followed by Clare’s “and Kick!”. They battled all the way to the line before getting entangled in a web of blades as St Leonards cut across again (allegedly) after the finish. This distraction may (or may not) have caused the girls to run aground (a new club tradition maybe?) ; and the fact that a St Leonards rower abandoned ship and helped TURC to get moving again might suggest guilt to some people, but for us impartial reporters it was seen as a smoothing of the waves, so the competitors could now become Facebook friends.

So no final for TURC this time, and Caitlin summed it up with – “before the race we didn’t expect to come anywhere near qualifying, but we rowed the course very well and are happy with our performance”.
COOL

It should be noted that the on site reporter was so ‘keen eyed’ that he didn’t even see his son race. (ed.)

Most of the club has decamped to Talkin Tarn for the regatta today. This is the last major regatta of the season with only a few athletes going to the Nat. Champs later this month and Bradford in September before the Head season.

09:00
The first race for the club (and first of the regatta) was Sam and Pat in their J15 double. Their account of the race is that they were distracted by a lorry that ploughed into the Tarn and their heroic efforts to save the driver and tow the lorry out delayed them but this doesn’t really match the observations of those on the shore. A more realistic account might be that they fought hard against strong opposition to lose by only a length.

09:12
Second up was Josh in novice singles. Josh has only just started racing in a single in the middle of this season and this was his first event in open water without lanes. He got a good start but his more experienced opposition managed to pull away in the more choppy middle part of the course, eventually winning by two lengths.

09:30
Paul A racing in the Masters’ 1x event against a much younger sculler from Talkin Tarn was unable to take a win in the first of his three races.

09:51
Hannah H in her first ‘open water’ race was more concerned about staying upright and on course than anything else. She managed both of these but unfortunately wasn’t able to pull through to win, losing by a few lengths.

09:57
Jonny and Adam in the IM2 pair were behind at the start but caught their opposition well down the course. Unfortunately their opponents steering wasn’t the best and pushed the TURC pair well of line meaning they had no chance to row through. They lost by only a narrow margin in the end.

10:09
The Masters’ 8+ were in a three lane event. They took off well and apart from a slight wobble half way down down the course were rowing strongly. An unfortunate crab near the finish made them a 7+ near the finish and relegated them to third position in the end.

11:18
After waiting for their opposition the Masters’ B/C 4x+ (David, Richard, Paul D, PaulA and Brian at cox) boated and wobbled up to the start requiring only one warning from a safety boat. An argument about the exact nature of the start followed but when the actual event got going everyone (not least the crew) was astonished that they got going ‘smoothly’, indeed they managed to maintain their 4 second head start for the first half of the race. In the choppier middle the boat became a bit more unstable as did some of the crew. It was as well that none of the juniors were coxing as the expletives came in a steady torrent. Right up to the last few lengths the TURC crew were ahead but two crabs and an abandoned pair of oars allowed the Tyne crew to take the win within a length of the finish. In the shallow water of the finish area Richard voted with his feet and abandoned ship but eventually, with the whole crew back aboard, the boat was delivered to the impatient Senior men’s crew to be rigged for their 4+ event.

12:24

Ben, Jonny, Craig, Adam & Lizzie (cox)

The men’s 4+ were racing in the Elite category against a genuinely elite crew. With little practice in the boat and one novice the TURC crew was only in this category due to Jonny’s collection of points. That being said the crew acquitted themselves well staying within a length of their opposition for most of the course and ultimately only losing by just under two lengths.

12:36
Luke in the J16 1x was in a nose to nose race along the length of the course losing out by just half a length only right at the very end.

13:39

Tom, Pat, Finn, Sam & Caitlin (cox) - Talkin Tarn 2010

Next up were Sam, Pat, Tom & Finn coxed by Caitlin in the J15 4x+. They were racing a Tarn/Nithsdale composite crew. Showing a nice clean style for most of the course (keeping to club form there was a crab in the middle of the course) they won by several lengths. This was the first win of the day but only a heat leading to a three lane final later in the day.

14:00

Hannah H & Bianca - Talkin Tarn 2010

Hannah H and Bianca in the J15 2x were determined to maintain the club standard for catching crabs in the middle of the course. They didn’t give up though and kept pushing but to no avail, the slightly more creative course they took perhaps not helping.

14:12

Lizzie, Jo, Jonny, Adam & Mike (cox) - Talkin Tarn 2010

And so to the first ‘proper’ win of the day with Jonny and Adam back in a boat, this time with Jo and Lizzie in the Mixed 4+ with Mike in the cox seat. After a close start the TURC boat began to pull way in the first ten strokes and managed to maintain clear water between them and their opposition for the rest of the race.

14:42

Chris & Barbara - Talkin Tarn 2010

Barbara and Chris in a mixed double had an incredibly close race in a three lane event that at the finishing line had all three crews overlapping. Unfortunately they were on the wrong end of the overlap

15:00

Tom, Pat, Finn, Sam & Caitlin (cox) - Talkin Tarn 2010

The Boys’ J15 4x+ headed out again for the final, this time a three lane affair. The other two crews go the better start and at the midpoint of the course the lads were down on the opposition but they (and more importantly their cox) weren’t willing to give up and rowed through to take the club’s second win.

15:30

Luke & Mike - Talkin Tarn 2010

Luke and Michael were next up in the J18 2x racing in a three lane event. It was a close fought event, but they eventually lost out by half a length. What was most infuriating for Luke however was that they lost to a Cambois crew with Luke’s brother.

15:33

Finn with Josh helping - Talkin Tarn 2010

Straight off the water from the J15 4x+ Finn had to literally abandon his peers to get straight into his single for the J15A 1x against a Tees rower. Finn barely had got to the start when it was time to row. Despite the fatigue from his immediately preceding race in the boys’ quad Finn won the race by just over 2 lengths for the club’s third win.

15:54

Jo & Sarah - Talkin Tarn 2010

In the first of the Women’s IM3 2x heats Jo and Sarah had a good race in a three lane event against a Tees and a Sunderland City/University crew and won by two clear lengths.

15:57

Josh - Talkin Tarn 2010

Josh was back up again for the heat of the J16B 1x and powered to a clear win against the St Leonard’s sculler.

16:06

Caitlin, Claire, Hannah H, Bianca & Finn (cox) - Talkin Tarn 2010

Just off the water after his single victory Finn had a quick run to get weighed in to head back out, this time as a cox with the Girls’ J15 4x+ crew of Bianca, Claire, Caitlin and Hannah H. Despite fierce competition by the girls Finn wasn’t up for a hat trick of pots today and the crew was edged out by the end.

16:15

Les, Andrew, Jim & Martin - Talkin Tarn 2010

The Masters’ 4x- of Jim, Andrew, Les and Martin had a good race against a Tees crew but without a win.

16:54
Jo and Sarah headed out for the final of their 2x event, another close event, but this time they didn’t manage to pull off a win.

17:12

Molly & Josh - Talkin Tarn 2010

Molly, denied her usual partnership with Hannah D, competed with Josh in a J16 Mixed 2x. They didn’t have the best of starts but reduced the deficit that this caused to remain not far off the winning crew. Most importantly Molly came off the water saying that, unlike when she and Hannah lose, she was still friends with Josh. A minor victory in itself!

17:39
It was supposed to be our last race of the day but unlike the Masters, Josh was on time to the start area and back out in his single for the final of the J16 1x. This was an exciting race with Josh kicking hard to the end and almost catching the winning sculler but in the end he came second in this three boat race. A creditable race considering the number of races he’d competed in.

17:45

Sarah, Andrew, Chris, Helen & Luke (cox) - Talkin Tarn 2010

A mixed Masters’ 4x+ with Helen, Sarah, Chris and Andrew with Luke coxing was supposedly the penultimate race for TURC but had morphed into the last due to Masters not being to get organised. Luke had almost lost his voice before the race started but that wasn’t to stop him shouting orders at not only the crew but any spectators with range of his sight, if not his voice, in the boating area. That being said it paid off. Second of three with a third of the race to go the crew responded to Luke’s demand for a push and rowed up to the Talkin Tarn crew, both boats crossing the line together. The result; a win for TURC… by one foot! A great way to end a great day.

This post comes to you as the result of a group effort on the day. Any similarities to real characters and events is purely coincidental