On Saturday, March 18th the Senior Men entered 2 eights for the Head of the River Race (HoRR), their best entry since the 1990s and indicative of their continued expansion.
The race traditionally takes place a week before The Boat Race over 6.8km of the Championship Course on the Tideway between Mortlake and Putney, and is one of four major head races on the Tideway during March, the others being the Women’s Eights Head of the River Race (WEHoRR) on Saturday, March 4th, the Schools’ Head (SHoRR) on Friday, March 17th and the Masters Head on Sunday, March 19th.
The Head of the River Race got underway in damp conditions at 1pm on Saturday.
The two crews (DARC A and B) included members of last year’s eight, former Juniors and newcomers, the line ups being as follows –
- DARC A (start number 105) – Elliot Kay, Matt Lakey, Ollie Negus, Roger Dunn, John Roxborough, Dan Pearson, Jeff Guggleman, Luke Gilderdale and cox Stef Lavelle
- DARC B (start number 143) – Jack Reeves, Thomas Woods, Harry White, Luke Davison, Dan Lockey, Jacob Windle, David Beeby, Will Standing and cox Aine Widdicombe
The squad would like to thank the members who weren’t in the final selection but who made themselves available as substitutes during training.
DARC A at HoRR 2023 (Ben Rodford Photography)
From a total of 321 competing crews DARC A finished in 150th position (9th Medium sized club) in a time of 19.20.8 and DARC B recorded 19.57.9 to take 205th position (18th Medium sized club).
Final results can be found here. Photographers were out in force and photos are available from AllMarkOne, Ben Rodford and Jet Photography.
Oxford Brookes University Boat Club A were overall winners in a new course record of 16.28.4.
Provincial clubs, i.e. those not based on the River Thames, contested the Jackson Trophy which this year went to Royal Chester RC with 17.49.4. DARC A taking 35th place and DARC B 43rd.
Video footage of the race can be found here.
Competing at Tideway events is a highlight of the Durham College Rowing calendar, and as well as taking two DARC boats to London the Club undertook the far from insignificant task of organizing the transport of boats for the 19 College eights taking part, of which Collingwood College A was the highest placed with a time of 18.58.5 in 112th position, while the Small Academic Pennant went to St John’s College in 19.56.6.
DARC B at HoRR 2023 (Ben Rodford Photography)
The following day the Masters squad had an entry in the renamed International Masters Head (formerly known as the Vesta Veterans Head) racing over the same course, including Michael Terry in a composite Masters E eight with Hexham and Tyne ARC that placed 39th of 226 entries overall and 9th fastest MasE 8+ in 19.36.1.
The Masters Head includes Open, Mixed and Women’s Masters eights and quads. For the first time Women’s entries started ahead of Mixed, and Mixed entries started ahead of Open ones in an attempt to reduce the time spent afloat during marshalling.
Final results from the Masters Head, including handicap adjustments where appropriate, can be found here.
Participation by DARC crews at HoRR has been sporadic in recent years with last year’s entry being the first since 2014, so doubling the number was long overdue as the squad seeks to return to an era when it would regularly boast 3 eights on the Tideway, and even 5 in 1997 and 1998.
Attending Tideway events is no mean feat, even without the uncertainty of possible late weather cancellations. Although there was no DARC entry in the WEHoRR or SHoRR this year, strong entries in the past have included 2015 when there were two Women’s eights at WEHoRR and two Junior crews in SHoRR, and 2017 when three eights entered the Veterans Head.
If you are interested in joining the Men’s Squad please get in touch with the Vice Captain at mens-vc@durham-arc.org.uk