News

Summer 2007

Salford Quays Dragon Boat Racing, 22 July 2007.

Members of Northwich Rowing Club joined the Rotary Club in Manchester's Dragon Boat Festival. The crew had a great day as one of the 36 teams, winning two races and coming second in another. There were mixed feelings among the Team at the 'good news, bad news' result of their 3rd heat, which they won in a magnificent time (for them) of 58.57 seconds. The 'bad news' was they missed being in the semi-final by 0.7 seconds; the 'good news' was they didn't have to paddle in the downpour that started and continued through the semis and finals. An enjoyable and memorable day nonetheless! They also helped raise money for Help The Aged, Rotary International, British Red Cross, UK Cancer Research and Christie Hospital. More info here.

Royal and Veteran's Henley Regattas

Matthew Jump and Jamie Leighton competed in the Open Double Sculls at Royal Henley. This international class event only has 16 places in the field and this year included the 2006 World Championship silver medallists Spik and Cop from Slovenia, the Polish and Greek International teams aswell as the cream of British competition. They did exceptionally well even to qualify and get the chance to race in such exalted cpompany. Unfortunately they were knocked out in the first round after putting up a good fight against Smith and Suthers of London's Tideway Scullers. Results.

Dave Street and Steve Parry, as usual, rowed themselves into the ground at Veteran's Henley entering as many events as possible. Unfortunately neither they or Simon Crouchley and Geoff Simms, rowing in Vet C doubles, came away with any wins.

Carolyn's Triathlon Challenge

A rowing friend encouraged me earlier in the year to take part in this short-distance triathlon for ladies and I have taken up the challenge, as I needed a break from rowing.

Royles Deva Divas Triathlon
Sunday 22^nd July 2007
Manley Mere, near Chester.

750 m SWIM in open water wearing a wet suit!

16 km BIKE along Cheshire country roads.

5 km RUN on the lakeside path.

I am sending this to you hoping you will sponsor me as I am fundraising for St Luke's (Cheshire) Hospice. Please take a look at Just Giving where you can sponsor me on line. I would really appreciate your support and need your encouragement to complete this task!
Thank you in advance
Carolyn

Update:CONGRATULATIONS CAROLYN!
Carolyn completed the Triathlon in a time of 1 hour 42 minutes and 55 secs (SWIM - 22 min 15 sec, BIKE - 46 min 37 sec, 34 min 3 sec) finishing 155th in a field of 189. More importantly 5th of 9 in the appropriately named Super Vet category. Even better she has raised a staggering £689.10 for St Luke's Hospice! You can still sponsor her at Just Giving. GREAT WORK!!!

Another World Cup Gold For Matt!

Very exciting news, Matthew Langridge wins a 2^nd GOLD medal in the Rowing World Cup at Amsterdam's Bosbaan Lake.

Matt was part of a Super Eight made up of the World Champion Men's Four, the Pair( Matt and Colin Smith) plus two others. This win is made all the sweeter as they won Gold while the GB Squad Eight took Bronze. Great Britain has never qualified two Eights for a World Cup final and never won 2 medals! History in the making.

It was a very exciting race with the Super Eight leading all the way and GB Eight in second place. China nudged ahead of the squad Eight but couldn't catch the new Eight who won Gold by just half a canvas in a very dramatic sprint to the line.

It was an amazing result for the men's Eights, the gold medal winners demonstrating that they are World Class rowers and it is huge step forward for the squad Eight who took bronze. Needless to say the club is very excited and very proud of Matthew's deserved success. Next World Cup race is at Lucerne Switzerland 13-15th July

More coverage in the national press : Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian and the ARA Website

Marlow Regatta, 23-24^th June

Jamie Leighton and Matt Jump traveled south to Dorney Lake, Eton to compete at Marlow Regatta, one of the top domestic regattas in the UK attracting many Henley Royal Regatta entrants, both domestic and international, with racing of a very high standard. They raced Elite Men's Double scull over in a 2000 metres multi-lane race. They finished fourth in the qualifying heat, advancing them to the repecharge later in the day. The weather conditions deteriorated dramatically making conditions very difficult for all the crews. The heavens opened with a loud thunderstorm and ferocious cross winds made the start very hard. The double raced very well, coming from behind with a very close finish but they were beaten to fourth place by Christchurch RC by .009 sec finishing in 7.26.29.

However, on the bright side the boys were delighted to be told they have pre-qualified for Henley Royal Regatta 4-8^th July as they have proved their potential having raced at many of the events leading up to the Big Event. They will be acclimatising themselves to the river at Henley-on-Thames next week in preparation for event. Their race will include the worlds best, attracting the GB squad, the current World Champions and many more internationals. The club and their fellow rowers wishes them every success.

Dragon Boat and Committee Positions.

Firstly, Northwich Rowing Club has been approached by Northwich Rotary Club to see if any of our members would like to participate alongside them in the MANCHESTER COMMUNITY CHARITY DRAGON BOAT RACE held at Salford Quays on Sunday 22nd July. The Rotary club will pay the £20 entry in exchange for some fit (ish!) team members and any fundraising that you do can go directly to Northwich Rowing Club. If you fancy trying something different and fun, please contact me and I'll pass you onto the Rotary Club.

Secondly, although it may only be June, our thoughts are turning to the annual AGM to be held at the end of September. Now is the time to start planning for our successors and looking for new people with fresh ideas to come on board. This year sees a few important positions being vacated.

Bar Manager
Social Secretary
Membership Secretary
Regatta Chairman
Head Chairman
Regatta Secretary

The full list will go up in the clubhouse shortly. We rely on the goodwill of NRC members to undertake these positions in order for the club to be the success that it is. If you are able to offer something to the club or have any questions about joining the committee, please contact me either by e-mail or by phone on 01606 351710.
Regards,
Laura - N.R.C. Secretary.

Matt Langridge's Gold

Northwich Rowing Club's Matthew Langridge won gold at the first world cup regatta of the year in Linz, Austria. Trailing and written off by the BBC commentators at the halfway point in the final of the men's pair, Matthew and his partner, Colin Smith, produced an awesome burst, moving from last to second, before rowing down the Croatian favourites in a sprint finish.

Read an in depth article in the Northwich Chronicle
Plus praise from the national press in The Indepentent, The BBC, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and FISA.

Northwich Regatta

This premier sporting event was held over 2 days on Spring Bank holiday, Sunday 27^th & Mon 28^th May, at the rowing club on the river Weaver. The club prides itself by making the regatta a successful and enjoyable weekend for spectators and competitors alike. On Sunday, the racing course is 1000m, and Monday it is shortened to a 500m sprint. Racing begins at 10am finishing at 5pm.

NRC's 123rd regatta was well attended by visiting crews from within the NW region: Trent RC, Hollingworth Lake, Trafford RC, Liverpool Uni RC, Chester Uni RC, Agecroft RC, Durham ARC, Grange School RC, Stourport RC and others from farther a field. Sunday was very wet, however the racing brightened up the day with some exciting races and some nail biting finishes.

Chloe Weston did particularly well in the WJ13 single scull, this being her first regatta, sprinting to the finish and beating her opposition from Hollingworth Lake by a canvas. The Eights races are always exciting to watch and Northwich women were pleased to win against Liverpool University in a hard fought race. The junior girls enjoyed the experience of sweep oar rowing and won a hard fought novice race also against Liverpool uni. The double of Matthew Jump and Jamie Leighton preformed well over both days achieving many wins and helping them in their quest to qualify for Henley Royal Regatta in July.

On Monday the weather improved slightly for racing over the 500 metre sprint course. Cliff Salt coxed the junior girls eight, a few of them being very novice to sweep oar, against the more experienced senior women. The race was close until the rudder lines in Cliff's eight snapped causing complications with steering and sadly losing the race. Northwich's junior men raced two fours in the men's novice event with the NRC A-crew eventually winning against Chester Uni(A) in a close race.

The combination of Mel Wakefield and Tom Curwell proved a good one on the day, both are good scullers, and in the first time in a boat together they won convincingly against Bradford RC. The premier eights event was a highly charged competitive race against two boats made up of experienced Northwich men with the B crew winning by two lenghths. The WJ13 double were delighted to win against Queens Park School in their first regatta. The club welcomed Vale Royal Mayor Cllr Doug Shingler and his wife to make the presentations at the end of a very successful event!

Northwich Wins - Sunday

WS3 8+ - Carolyn MacRitchie, Clare Briegal, Ellan Preece, Carol Riddell, Emma Hawton, Laura Hind, Kerry Briggs, Sarah Patrick and cox Jonty Moore.
WNov 8+ - Vivi Darwin, Carol Spencer, Lucy Joynson, Jane Edwards, Amy Fallon, Ellen Preece, Clare Campbell, Rhian Wynne and cox Andrew Jackson.
WVet C 4+ - Clare Briegal, Carol Riddell, Carolyn MacRitchie, Kerry Briggs and cox Jonty Moore.
E 2x - Matthew Jump and Jamie Leighton. (QL)
S2 2x - Matthew Jump and Jamie Leighton (QL)
S4 2x - Paul Barber and Matt Evans
Novice 2x - Paul Barber Matt Evans
W Novice 2x - Kerry Briggs and Laura Hind
S2 1x - Mike Bulmer
S3 1x - John Cowan
WJ15 1x - Rhian Wynne
WJ13 1x - Chloe Weston

Northwich Wins - Monday

MElite 8+ - Dave Street, Simon Crouchley, Fraser Dodd, Dave Annells, Matthew Jump, Philip Crump, Douglas Pickup, John McDonald and cox Jonty Moore.
WS3 8+ - Sophie Motram, Sarah Patrick, Fiona Hill, Carol Riddell, Emma Hawton, Kerry Briggs, Sian Murray, Mel Wakefield and cox Jonty Moore.
Nov 4+ - Fraser Dodd, Peter Morton, Mike Igoe, Danny Edge and cox Andrew Jackson. (Ql)
S2 2x - Matthew Jump and Jamie Leighton. (QL)
Mixed Novice 2x - Mel Wakefield and Tom Curwell.
WN 2x - Kerry Briggs and Laura Hind.
J18 2x - Will Frisk ( The Grange school) and Matt Evans.
WJ 13 2x - Becky Jones and Beth Wynne.
WJ16 1x - Rhian Wynne.

Spring Newsletter

Get a round up of the latest news and gossip in the spring newsletter.

Chester Regatta

On Saturday the 19^th of May Northwich Rowing Club traveled the short distance to Chester to compete at the city's Regatta which, held on the Dee since 1733, is the oldest in the world.

Seniors and veterans from the club's men's squad entered a number of races against local rivals from Chester's rowing clubs and visiting regional clubs over 750 meters. They returned with two wins.

Vet C coxed Eight beating local rivals Royal Chester in an exciting final with Northwich coming back from behind to win by a mere three feet. Northwich proving now to be the fastest veteran men's crew in the Northwest. Crew - Brian Roberts, John Cowan, Dave Annells, Geoff Sims, George Perrin, Phil Crump, Doug Pickup, Simon Croughley and cox Jonty Moore.
Senior 1 pair Dave Annells and Steve Warren winning their race convincingly, beating Grosvenor RC by two lengths

Results and more pictures are available at the Chester Regatta website.

Shrewsbury Regatta

Northwich Rowing Club traveled south to compete at Shrewsbury Regatta on the River Severn on 12^th & 13^th May. This is a very popular event attracting crews from all over of the country at the start of the Regatta season. Crews hungry for competition look forward to racing over shorter distances namely 1000 metres on Saturday and 600 metres sprint on Sunday.

All the club's squads, men, senior, junior and veteran and women's were well represented on both days and were delighted to return with four wins in Sunday's atrocious weather .

Senior 3 and Senior 4 double sculls: Matt Jump and Jamie Leighton missed a clean sweep of the senior double sculls, narrowly beaten by Weybridge in the senior 2 event.
Vet C coxed Four : Geoff Sims, Fraser Dodd, Phil Crump, Doug Pickup with cox A John beating Abingdon RC in the final.
Vet C double scull : Dave Street and Steve Parry beating Merchants '98 in the final.

The Club were less successful over Saturday's 1000m course, the women's crews of Kerry Briggs and Laura Hind in Novice doubles sculls and Mel Wakefield in Novice single sculls reached the finals of their events each having raced the distance three times overall. The Men's Novice four won their first round heat, but were knocked out in the second round by the home club's crew in a close finish.

The club will attend Chester Regatta next weekend.