Rowing club's lady champs make history

Jemma Cropper and Jennifer Dawes became Bexhill's first ever ladies' pairs champions on Saturday by winning their fifth senior pairs race of the year at the Deal Regatta. They are also the first ladies' senior champions in the club's 113-year history.

The duo have been training hard over the past two years and as a result they have produced a series of dominant displays over the course of the season.

It was also a triumphant day for Mark Mitchell who regained his senior sculls title for a record equalling sixth year.

The Bexhill man was up against tough opposition including one of England's top scullers recruited from London.The unfamiliar territory of coastal racing meant the Tideway sculler was unable to make headway on Mitchell in the close-fought final which also involved a Herne Bay sculler. At the second set of turns, a collision between all three forced a re-row. Mitchell pushed from the word go to claim his fifth win and secure the title for another year.

The novice girls crew of Lucy Sangster, Holly Makin, Rachael Garland, Becky Frost and coxswain Phil McCorry produced another fine win and then went on to finish 3rd in the junior category.

Doug Holdaway won the men's novice scull event, with Phil McCorry third. The duo were joined by their junior senior championship-winning colleagues Matt Hellier and Nick McCorry to secure an incredible sixth straight win in an event totally dominated by Bexhill, whose crews occupied the top four places.

The A crew was followed home by the B crew of Toby Mathews, Ben Muggridge, Joe Pellet and Ashley Cahill, C crew of Chris Williams, Al Kinross, Alex Beacon and Will Miller, and D crew of Tony Page, Doug Thomas, Phil Hunt and Raymond Picard. The C and D crews then raced the novice and junior events to finish 4th and 6th in the junior, and 2nd and 5th in the novice.

Kieran Cahill, who clinched the men's junior sculls championship the previous week at the Folkestone Regatta, proved too fast for the rest of the field to notch a superb seventh win of the year.

The veteran A crew of Bob Balchin, Paul Dawes, Clive Bingham and Graham Dawes equalled their best performance of the year with another 3rd place in the final.

The senior four of Chris Mizen, Matt Mitchell, Mark Mitchell and Kieran Cahill were edged out by a Deal crew strengthened by London clubs. However, with just two races left in this year's campaign, Bexhill remain 4-2 up on closest rivals Herne Bay.

Mark and Matt Mitchell also finished 2nd in the senior pairs behind Herne Bay to relinquish their grip on the championship they have held for the past four years.

Other results from Folkestone saw the ladies' novice crew lead from start to finish and also come 3rd in the junior category. Holdaway finished 2nd in the men's novice sculls while Rebecca Dawes romped home in the ladies' sculls.

The veteran A crew of Dave Jones, Steve Bickers, Steve Hopkins, Glen Payne and cox Callum Payne took 3rd, with the B crew of Balchin, Paul Dawes, Bingham, Graham Dawes and cox Andrew Knoll came 4th.

Newly-crowned champions Cropper and Jennifer Dawes produced a blinding sprint finish to triumph in the senior pairs, while the senior four had to settle for 2nd after a thrilling row against Herne Bay. Mark and Matt Mitchell also finished 2nd in the senior pairs but Mark made amends by winning the senior sculls.

With four championships in the bag already this year, the club has dominated the coastal rowing season like never before and with regattas at Dover and Eastbourne, plus the 50th South Coast Championships, still to come, more wins are on the cards.