November 2019: The Saturday/Sunday double header of 4s Head and Vets 4s Head came to the Tideway in November. Son’s crews could be found on the water on both days putting in some good performances.
4s Head:
Men’s 4- in 20:43.2
Vets 4s Head:
Men’s Masters B 4+ taking 2nd in their category in 21:33.3
Men’s D 4x in 20:18.8
Men’s F 4x in 20:07.5
November 2019: When things in the rowing community don’t run as smoothly as we like it’s important that we help out, and that is exactly what we did in November – establishing our “red board club”. For the first session we welcomed a new category of club member “the red-boarders” from Magdalen College, Oxford who had been kept on land by poor water and weather conditions all term. This aspect of Sons is sure to flourish in the future – not least so that non-tideway rowers get to come to Sons and realise how brilliant it is to row where we do… Magdalen – welcome to the Sons family.
October 2019: On 24th October Sons of the Thames began its partnership with Zoe De Toledo to deliver a learn to cox programme and coxing masterclass series at the club. Launch night saw an inquisitive bunch of coxes and rowers join Zoe in the ballroom for an insightful Q&A, and we now have an active learn to cox programme in full swing with our first graduates expecting to complete early 2020.
Masterclasses for 2020 are also firmly in the pipeline - watch this space
October 2019: A mild October day saw the first tideway head of the season - where a mass of pairs and doubles row 4.5km from Chiswick Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge. This year Son’s had 7 crews with some strong performance, including two pennant wins…
Open 2x Club – Roger Ewing and Liam Watson
Master’s F 2x Championship – Les Scrine and Tim Whittle
AUGUST 2019. Well that was a busy summer regatta season… and one that has appeared to take up some space in the trophy cabinet. Regatta pots and British Masters Championships Gold seem to be the order of the day at Sons these past few months.
Chiswick Regatta: MAS D/E 4x win; OP 8+ win
Borne @ Chiswick Regatta: W 4x win; Op 8+ win; Op MAS E 4x win; Op MAS E 2x win; Op 4+ win
Putney Town Regatta: MAS E 2x win
British Masters Championships: MAS F 4x GOLD
Barnes and Mortlake Regatta: W 2x win
Kingston Regatta: MAS E 4x win
Richmond Regatta: Op 8+ win; MAS E 4x win.
MARCH 2019. Not content with spending the colder months of the year on the Tideway, a combined Men’s senior and masters’ crew headed to Amsterdam in March to take on the challenge of the Heineken Roeivierkamp, the Heineken Club Quadrathlon or (preferably) simply “The Heineken”… A yearly rowing regatta over four distances on the Amsterdam’s Amstel River.
Escaping London did not mean they escaped weather related regatta delays and cancellations, so after a few days of ERGs replacing water-time, the crew got down to the real business of the weekend: HV8+ Division 3 – 54th in the 2.5km, 65th in the 250m… 65th overall.
JANUARY 2019. Fuelled with some SONS grit, Men of Oar took on the Talisker Challenge to row the Atlantic. The annual race from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua sees 20-30 crews setting off to eat-sleep-row-repeat their way across 3000 nautical miles to Nelson’s Dockyard.
Less people have completed this challenge than those who have climbed Everest or been to space… perhaps it is the daily 20 foot waves or the thought of spending weeks in 8 square meters of floating fibreglass with only the promise of blisters aggravated by salt that doesn’t quite compare… But when faced with the world’s toughest row seeing the shore of Antigua in the distance is reward in itself…
The team made up of Sons own William Theakston, Robin Drysdale, Sam Bolt-Laurence and David Laurence finished in 47 days, 6 hours and 37 minutes…. What a fantastic efforts and for two amazing causes: Combat Stress and Bowel Cancer UK. You can still donate at Atlantic Men of Oar's fundraising page .
OCTOBER 2018. 6 Sons crew’s braved challenging cold, wet and windy conditions to race Pairs Head on 6th October. Mostly brand new combinations saw the pair of Foden and Thompson record the fastest time 15:39, with the rest putting in some strong performances – especially for those who were significant sculling novices (Ed. It was the Men’s captain’s 6th ever sculling outing!)…
Those who attended the AGM enjoyed Will's presentation on the Men of Oar transatlantic row and tasted a selection of Fullers bottled ales for export. The beers were an interesting range including a 1904 recipe that I didn't much enjoy, a 1981 ESB that reminded me of old times and an Imperial Stout with a staggering 8.6% alcohol content. The least surprising aspect of the presentation on the 3000 mile row was that the crew committed to the venture in the pub after a couple of beers too many. All rowers have made that mistake but seldom so badly.
Will and his crew are supporting a couple of deserving charities: Combat Stress and Bowel Cancer UK. You can donate at Atlantic Men of Oar's fundraising page .
Help us change the world! Make a donation now.
Congratulations to the W.4x and M.MasA.2x on wins at Hammersmith Regatta on Saturday.
Pat, Vee, Mel and Georgie showed good cohesion and sharpness in the Womens quad final despite the early stage of the season. They forced Auriol Kensington into an error on the Harrods bend and then cantered home easily. Mirko and Tomaso looked powerful in the Mens Masters A double and were never challenged by Fulham Reach. A good start to racing for the summer.
