The West of England Amateur Rowing Association
 |
| Plymouth ARC (taken from Plymouth ARC website) |
(Extract taken from the WEARA website)
Welcome to the page for the West of England Amateur Rowing Association (WEARA), it represents the interests of rowers throughout the South Western Counties and has an affiliated membership of 17 clubs. The web site was set up for use by the various WEARA committees and to provide a forum to introduce the sport of rowing in the Southwest.
Rowing is often described as the ultimate team sport and a world-class performance has been described to be as difficult as "getting eight guys to run a four minute mile, in step."
The sport has received unrivalled coverage through the successful performances of the British national squad at the 2000 Olympics, where Britain continued its record of winning an Olympic Gold medal in every games since 1984, a feat unrivalled by any other British Sport. At the 2000 games, rowing's most well known practitioner, Steven Redgrave, achieved an unbelievable fifth successive Olympic Gold medal, something never achieved by any other Olympian in any other sport.
This is of course rowing at its highest levels, but rowing is fundamentally based on a group of people who simply enjoy messing about in boats, whatever the level - competitive or recreational. It is a sport that exercises more muscles than any other, and constantly supports the body weight, placing less strain on joints and making it a sport suitable for any age group, people start rowing at school, university or with a club at any level of fitness and at any age.
To row you need good kinaesthetic co-ordination (-you know where your limbs are in relation to your body!) this is a much more common skill than good 'hand-eye co-ordination' and so if you can't catch, hit or kick a ball then you really want to start thinking about practicing your sport sitting down.
Hope you enjoy a look at rowing in the West country.
2013 SEASON
The 2013 season is well underway with the next regatta being PAIGNTON on the 10th August. Keep checking the WEARA website: WEBSITE for regatta reports and results.
2012 SEASON
On the 14th
October I headed to the West of England ARA meeting and dinner. The evening saw
the presidents dinner held in Torquay and many trophies given out to the winners
of championship events of the season.
The new WEARA website
has now gone live, check out www.weara.co.uk
for all the latest event details, club information and news.
Report on the South Coast Championships from Dave Godfrey
Conditions were just about
ideal for the 800 competitors who were in action last weekend at the 2 day
South Coast Championship Regatta that was held on the River Torridge in
Bideford. There was 29 clubs in action over the two days of racing, with all
the main senior championship and open events on the Saturday and Sunday
involving races for juniors between the ages of 14 and 18.
It was the Hants and Dorset
Association who dominated the Championship Senior races winning four of the
six races that were held with the West of England securing top positions in
the other two categories.
In the eagerly awaited
clash of the regions top crews in the Men’s Senior race for the much sought
after “Bideford “Bowl” trophy it was the Ryde crew of T.Clark, S.Cocker, M.Allsopp and I.Hayden
who powered home in the closing stages to ease out the favourites from
Bexhill.
It was a double celebration
for the Isle of Wight club with another fine win by their crew in the Men’s
Junior/Senior championship race
The Greenbank Falmouth crew
of Sarah Lewis, Bethan and Rosie Owens together with Mary Coote were
convincing winners of the Ladies Senior Championship ahead of pre-race
favourites Lymington and Southampton.
It was the second successive year that the crew have won the premier
ladies title with only one change to the crew from last year’s event with
Mary Coote replacing Kate Conway in this year’s line up. Their win was not totally unexpected
although the same could not be said of the Bideford Blues youngsters who
swept all before them in the Ladies Junior (Senior C) championship. The crew of Zoe Robertson, Annie Cook,
Alice Jackson and Megan Harty who are all or have been recent pupils at
Kingsley School in Bideford totally dominated the race from start to finish
winning by a comfortable four length margin ahead of Christchurch and local
rivals Dart Totnes. It was a remarkable performance by the crew who could
only finish in second place in the local domestic championship, some way
behind the runaway leaders from Totnes.
The Hants and Dorset
Association also came out top in the Championship Veteran race where the two
favourites from Coalporters and Folkestone went head to head but it was the
Southampton Coalies crew of Russell Quinton, Andy Williams, I. Williams and
R. Williams who came home well clear of the defending champions.
Coalies also took the
honours in the Junior Championship where T.Symes, A.Hammond, J.Bladen and
J.Williams beat their home town rivals from B.T.C. with the Plymouth four in
third spot.
Sunday was the turn of the juniors
to demonstrate their talents and it was the local clubs and in particular the
powerful Dart Totnes, Plymouth and Bideford Reds juniors who swept all before
them in the majority of races.
Such was their dominance
that Dart Totnes finished the day with 36 points, with Plymouth in second
spot with 30 and Bideford Reds a further eight points adrift in third
place. West of England crews won 15
out of the 18 races that were held in singles, doubles and fours boats.
It was another Castledore
junior who took two fine victories through her efforts in the Ladies Junior 16
single scull and then linking up with Anna Whittingslow from Exeter to also
win the corresponding age group race for double sculls.
Bideford Reds won both the
Junior 14 coxed quads whilst there was similar success for Dart Totnes in the
corresponding Junior 16 category with their men’s crew having to share the
trophy with Ryde having finished dead level as they crossed the finishing
line.
In the two Junior 18 single
sculling events it was GB Junior International Emma Reiser from the Dart
Totnes club who held off strong challenge from her arch rival, Alice Jackson
from the Blues whilst Sam Twine from Plymouth, who has been consistently to
the forefront of local races this season pulled off a fine win ahead of Simon
Kerswell-Jensen from Dart Totnes and team-mate Danny Carlson who also
finished dead level as they crossed the line.
| ||||||||||||
Helen Glover the Olympic rowing
gold medallist at the London Olympics was the guest of honour at the Regatta and
spent the entire time on the Saturday signing autographs and posing for
photographs with rowers and spectators. She was also on hand to present all
the medals to the winning crews at the prize giving after the completion of
the days racing and to also show everybody her gold medal she won in the
coxless pairs race at Dorney Lake.
| ||||||||||||
David Godfrey
| ||||||||||||
The results from the South
Coast Championship Regatta are as follows:
| ||||||||||||
CHAMPIONSHIP RACES:
| ||||||||||||
FOURS:
| ||||||||||||
Senior 4+
|
1st
|
Ryde
|
Bexhill
|
Itchen Imperial
| ||||||||
Junior /Senior 4+
|
Ryde
|
Coalporters
|
Plymouth
| |||||||||
Junior 4+
|
Coalporters
|
BTC
|
Plymouth
| |||||||||
Masters O40 4+
|
Coalporters
|
Folkestone
|
BTC
| |||||||||
Ladies Sen A 4+
|
Greenbank Falmouth
|
Lymington
|
Southampton
| |||||||||
Ladies Junior 4+
|
Bideford Blues
|
Christchurch
|
Dart Totnes
| |||||||||
OPEN RACES:
| ||||||||||||
FOURS:
| ||||||||||||
Senior 4+
|
1st
|
Lymington
|
Bexhill
|
Westover + Bournemouth
| ||||||||
Junior /Senior 4+
|
Southampton A
|
Bideford Reds
|
Southampton B
| |||||||||
Junior 4+
|
Lymington
|
Ryde
|
Herne Bay
| |||||||||
Novice 4+
|
Castledore
|
Shoreham
|
Greenbank Falmouth
| |||||||||
Masters O40 4+
|
Shoreham
|
Lymington
|
Bideford Reds
| |||||||||
Masters O50 4+
|
Lymington
|
Poole
|
Bideford Reds
| |||||||||
Ladies Sen A 4+
|
Itchen Imperial
|
Poole
|
Ryde
| |||||||||
Ladies Junior 4+
|
Paignton
|
Southampton B
|
Bideford Blues
| |||||||||
Lad.Nov.4+
|
Castledore
|
Coalporters
|
Poole A
| |||||||||
JUNIOR RACES:
| ||||||||||||
FOURS:
| ||||||||||||
Junior 18 4+
|
Plymouth
|
Dart Totnes
|
Bideford Blues
| |||||||||
Junior 16 4x+
|
Ryde
Dart Totnes
(dead heat)
|
Shoreham
| ||||||||||
Junior 14 4x+
|
Bideford Reds A
|
Herne Bay
|
Bideford Reds B
| |||||||||
Lad J18 4+
|
Dart Totnes
|
Bideford Blues B
|
Bideford Blues A
| |||||||||
Lad.J.16 4x+
|
Dart Totnes
|
Coalporters
|
Itchen Imperial
| |||||||||
Lad.J.14 4x+
|
Bideford Reds A
|
Bideford Reds B
|
Itchen Imperial
| |||||||||
DOUBLES:
| ||||||||||||
Junior 18 2x
|
Plymouth A
|
Dart Totnes
|
Plymouth B
| |||||||||
Junior 16 2x
|
Coalporters
|
Dart Totnes A
|
Christchurch A
| |||||||||
Junior 14 2x
|
Christchurch A
|
Plymouth
|
Bideford Reds A
| |||||||||
Lad. J.18 2x
|
Dar Totnes
|
Bideford Blues
|
Eastbourne
| |||||||||
Lad.J.16 2x
|
Exeter / Castledore
|
Christchurch A
|
Newport
| |||||||||
Lad.J.14 2x
|
Plymouth
|
Bideford Reds A
|
Bideford Reds B
| |||||||||
SINGLES:
| ||||||||||||
Junior 18 1x
|
Plymouth D - S Twine
|
Plymouth B - D Carlson
Dart Tones - S
Kerswell-Jensen
(dead heat)
| ||||||||||
Junior 16 1x
|
Christchurch A - M Aldridge
|
Bideford Reds - D MacKenzie
|
Shanklin - A Robertson
| |||||||||
Junior 14 1x
|
Bideford Blues - C White
|
Christchurch - R Quinn
|
Plymouth - L
Barron-Robinson
| |||||||||
Lad. J.18 1x
|
Dart Totnes - E Reiser
|
Bideford Blues - A Jackson
|
Bideford Blues - A Cook
| |||||||||
Lad.J16 1x
|
Castledore - J Newson
|
Christchurch A - I Booth
|
Dart Totnes A - L Manning
| |||||||||
Lad.J.14 1x
|
Paignton - J Middleton
|
Plymouth - R Butchart
|
Christchurch - L Booth
| |||||||||
No comments:
Post a Comment