Stortford again played host to the final race of the Eastern Region Hasler season. The team of 36 paddlers was the largest put out by Stortford for a race since 2018 - when the club were joint top of the Eastern Region League. Most of the racers were doubling-up as volunteers to supplement the non-racing members and their family staffing the event.
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| Stortford were not the only ones rallying the largest team possible. Chelmsford CC, Norwich CC and Leighton Buzzard CC were equally keen to do well and end the season in the top three, and thus secure a place in the Finals at Worcester. This resulted in a total of 173 competitors - a big increase in the 135 who came last year. In the morning, the Div 4, 5 and 6 races went down to Sawbridgeworth. Libby flew off the Division 6 start line in first place and, although she was overtaken by one person after about 500m, she remained in second place for the rest of the course to take the silver medal and is promoted to Div 5. There were more silver medals for Stortford in the Division 4 doubles race thanks to Joao & Ben who finished in a strong second place. |  |
 | While the divisional races were off downstream, the Geoff Sanders paddlers completed two laps down to to Twyford Lock and back. Four of Stortford's newest recruits were taking part in Geoff Sanders C. Well done to Clio, Alex T, Romeo and Lexi for completing your first race! Clio was third and has been promoted to GSB. In the afternoon, it was the turn of the Division 7, 8 and 9 races, which took in a 4-mile circuit to Spellbrook Lock and back. In Division 7, Eilidh and Jamie W were 3rd and 4th respectively - both have been promoted. |
| The 20 paddlers in the Div 9 singles race had to be split between two starts. Jack who came 3rd received a double promotion to Div 7, so did not score - but his points were picked up by Shehan (4th) and new member Daniel (6th). Daniel's result was very impressive for a first race - especially as he took a swim at Twyford Lock and completed the next leg with a great deal of water sloshing about in the boat. Stortford's first gold medals of the day were won by Oliver & James B in Div 8 K2. Zoe & Christine teamed up to take the third place in the Div 7 K2 race. All four of these have been promoted. Summer & Sophie gamely agreed to take on the Div 9 K2 race and won bronze. |  |
 | Joe added an extra loop to the course for the Div 1,2, & 3 races, so that competitors had to complete two circuits between Sawbridgeworth and Spellbrook before they could finally return to the clubhouse. Rich completed this in 2:2:49 for a Div 2 silver medal. Both of the K2s in Div 3 were Stortford boats, so for David & Oleh and Eddie & Jasper it must have felt as if the main contest was against the 30 degree heat. |
| SINGLES - 13 miles, 10 portages Div 2: Rich Winstanley 2nd (2:2:49) 7 miles, 6 portages Div 5: Kerstin Queeney 4th (1:17:53) Div 6: Libby Gaulton 2nd (1:15:12), Jaroslav Klumpler 5th (1:19:19) 4 miles, 2 portages Div 7: Eilidh White 3rd (37:00), Jamie Winstanley 4th (37:06) Div 9: Jack Law 3rd (40:15), Shehan Sheikh 4th (43:34), Daniel Thompson 6th (44:53), Stuart Edwards 10th (47:10), Alex Scott 14th (55:20) |  |
 | DOUBLES - 13 miles, 10 portages Div 3: David Gurney & Oleh Kuzmenko 1st (2:13:09), Edward Kirtland & Jasper Kirtland 2nd (2:17:43) 7 miles, 6 portages Div 4: Ben Tubby & Joao Spinola 2nd (1:03:11) Div 5: Mark Adams & Ethan Tingay [LBZ] 3rd (1:13:15) Div 6: Jamie Bond & Kerry Tubby 4th (1:15:24) 4 miles, 2 portages Div 7: Zoe Norford & Christine Meula 3rd (35:32), Dave Cayford & Jacque Cayford 6th (38:02) Div 8: Oliver Klumpler & James Breeze 1st (37:36), Rupert Kirtland & Benjamin Middleton 4th (43:19) Div 9: Summer Norford & Sophie Middleton 3rd (46:23), Petr Luksan & Robin Dromard 4th (48:32) |
| Under 14s (Geoff Sanders) 2 miles Div C: Clio Thompson 3rd (33:33), Alex Thompson 5th (36:19), Romeo Law 6th (37:42), Lexi Wilson 7th (40:34) After a closely-fought battle, the event was won by Norwich CC (595 points), with B. Stortford CC and Chelmsford CC tied in second place (592), just ahead of Leighton Buzzard CC (591). Stortford's Deputy Mayor, Cllr Murray White, kindly came along to present the medals. |
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The season has therefore ended with Chelmsford CC in the lead, BSCC second and Norwich CC third - our best position in 7 years.
See also
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