| Twenty-three Stortford paddlers were amongst the 114 who met at Herts Young Mariners Base, Cheshunt, to tackle strong winds and high portages on the River Lea. A good proportion of the team came home with medals. In particular, Danny and Gary & Malcolm remained unbeaten in the series so far. Though finishing second, both Murdo and Deborah were both tantalisingly close to a gold medal (43s and 14s) in their respective classes. Mike & Alasdair too had a close finish, taking bronze but just 8s off silver. 8 miles: Senior K2 - Mike Panrucker & Alasdair Bruce 3rd (1:12:01), Jacque Cayford & Dave Cayford 7th (1:31:06) Sen Mens K1 - Wayne Stevens 4th (1:48:31), Josh Young (retired) Vet Mens K1 - Danny Beazley 1st (1:05:02), Kevin Warbrick 7th (1:18:43), Chris Sze 16th (1:35:17) 6 miles: Ladies K1 - Ella Beatty 3rd (54:25), Octavia Abbott 5th (58:53), Catherine Robinson 13th (1:20:05) u16 Girls K1 - Lexie White (retired) Marathon C2 - Gary Aldam & Malcolm Duckworth 1st (58:01) 3 miles: u14 Boys K1 - Murdo White 2nd (27:58), William Rowe 6th (34:15), Connor Higgins 7th (35:09), Euan Caton 8th (36:00) u14 Girls K1 - Emilia Boylan 3rd (36:00) Ladies GP - Deborah Cayford 2nd (36:45) u12 K1 - Eilidh White 5th (44:19), Ryewin Bridger 6th (1:00:48) |    |
The slightly low turnout and a couple of retirements by potential high-scorers left Stortford in overall third place, behind both Chelmsford CC and Barking & Dagenham CC. The challenge for the team now is to try not to be beaten by Barking again in the remaining three matches. This could be tricky, as the next event will be Barking's home race.
Full race results are on the FRA website. See photos of the Cheshunt race on Flickr and more from the Herts Boat Rescue team. See also Cheshunt race press report (H&E Observer 17/12).
Now added - video of the Cheshunt race by Chris.
Now added - video of the Cheshunt race by Chris.
