Unedited video of the race on Saturday 18th Nov 2017.
Diane Moore & Stephen Walker of Grosvenor Rowing Club in Chester competing in the 3rd division of the day at Loughborough Boat Club’s Head of the River Soar.
They won Mixed Masters E/F 2x (double sculls) by 10.5 seconds in elapsed time over their nearest rival in the event, the Masters E Mixed double from Derwent Rowing Club. However, after application of the age difference handicap, the margin of victory was actually 37.6 seconds. Their adjusted time of 12.33.3 was faster than the time, 13.53.4, of the Trent Rowing Club Mixed (not masters) double who were admittedly rather young and relatively inexperienced, but the time was also faster than the 12.44 posted by the winning Stourport Masters (Men’s) E2x and faster than the winning J16 2x (boys), Trent RC, 12.41.
It was an outstanding performance by this crew who had not been in the boat together since winning at the World Rowing Masters Regatta in Bled two months previously. Steve and Di are training buddies and train, most often, alongside each other in their singles on the River Dee. They have only ever been in the double scull on a total of about 7 occasions altogether so their cohesion is remarkable.
As for their singles performances in the second division at the Soar Head, Diane was not just the winner of the event into which she was entered, Women’s Masters D/E, by a margin of over three and a half minutes, she turned out to be the fastest woman single sculler over all age groups by margins of 12.4 seconds (and more) in elapsed race time!
Steve meanwhile, in his single, won his event, Masters F/G singles, beating former Welsh International, Lewis Hancock on handicap. These two accomplished scullers have known of each other since 1986 but only raced in the same event for the first time at Nottingham Small Boats Head a few weeks previously, where a tough headwind had given the 20% heavier Hancock the advantage on the day.
Stephen Walker, founder of https://scullingacademy.com, and author of “How to Win – The Sports Competitor’s Guide to Success”, said before the race, “I’ve never raced on this stretch of the River Soar before. It looks really narrow and twisty and I’m relishing the challenge. Steering is going to be a crucial skill.”
After the race he said, “I really enjoyed that. I started at 34, finished at 35 and my rate never dropped below 32 for the whole 3,000m and I was puffing and panting (in a good way) the whole time. I loved it!”
Special thanks were offered to Janet Vorberg for the loan of her Wintech International boat, “Gladys”.