 | As usual at Bedford, the high man-made banks caused choppy water in places, and this combined on the day with a stiff breeze along the wide river to create demanding conditions for the club's youngest paddles. Despite this there were excellent results from our seven under-14s competitors. Five of them made a clean sweep of the gold medals in the Geoff Sanders Divisions on the 2.5km course. Libby, Jasper and Rupert won Div A, B and C respectively. Rupert's time was especially good, and he now joins his brother in Div B. Zuzanna and Emilie gained Silver in A and C. In the afternoon Libby and Jasper went on to crew a doubles boat in the under-14s K2 race over the same course, and won two more gold medals. |
| Under 14s (Geoff Sanders) 2.5km Div A: Libby Gaulton 1st (29:31), Zuzanna Madeja 3rd (33:08) Div B: Jasper Kirtland 1st (23:13) Div C: Rupert Kirtland 1st (22:30), Emilie Klumpler 3rd (27:05) GS K2: Libby Gaulton & Jasper Kirtland 1st (18:55) Oliver and Finlay, also both u14s, entered the Hasler Div 9 doubles race and were rewarded for undertaking this challenge with Silver medals. |  |
The rest of the Stortford team also brought home a good haul of medals, particularly in the doubles races. Jacqueline and Dave were competing in Division 8 doubles on the 2-lap 7km course. After getting a good start and taking an initial lead, they were overtaken by a Norwich CC boat as they approached the first turn. However, they were able to see off the challenge and regain their position for the rest of the race to win, 49s ahead of their rivals.
| BSCC had two doubles boats on the 3-lap 13km course, both taking part in the Division 5 race. This course included two "false portages" where paddlers have to disembark and run with their boats. Mark partnered Kirsten to second place. Their time of 1:08:45 being faster than all the competitors in the Division 4 doubles race, it is not surprising that they have both now been promoted to Div 4. Also paddling in Div 5 doubles were Eddie (Div 7) with Chris (Div 4). They finished only fractionally behind Mark and Kerstin, so Eddie too has been promoted to Div 4. |  |
 | DOUBLES - 13km, 2 portages Div 5: Mark Adams & Kerstin Queeney 2nd (1:08:45), Chris Sze & Eddie Kirtland 3rd (1:09:19) 7km Div 8: David Cayford & Jacqueline Cayford 1st (44:51) Div 9: Oliver Klumpler & Finlay Sandal 2nd (1:02:32) Most of the singles competitors from BSCC were on the 7km course. Division 8 included two Stortford entrants: Jaroslav (Jay) and Ben. Ben took the lead from the start while Jay, though initially forced to drop back by the press of boats, was soon able to catch up and the pair were in first and second place as they went around the first turn. However, Ben took a swim at the second turn, and although he was able to finish the race and make up a lot of the lost time had to settle for 6th place. Jay was overtaken by two other boats, so finished third - however, his excellent time sees him promoted to Division 7. |
| Stortford's highest-placed singles paddler was Eilidh, who won silver in Div 9. Also in this race, Arthur put in an impressive performance to finish 4th in his first Hasler. SINGLES - 13km, 2 portages Div 4: Joe Fitzpatrick 4th (1:12:43) 7km Div 7: Tom Barton 7th (43:38), Jack Gaulton 10th (45:31) Div 8: Jaroslav Klumpler 3rd (44:10), Ben Tubby 6th (45:40) Div 9: Eilidh White 2nd (47:39), Arthur Catmur 4th (48:24), Karen Bradley 7th (52:32) |  |
The Stortford team came fourth out of the nine Eastern region clubs represented, with a score of 583 points, tantalisingly close to 3rd-placed Chelmsford CC's total of 588. Leighton Buzzard CC and Norwich were joint winners with 595 each. Bishops Stortford CC now sit fourth in the Eastern Region League.
See also
