South Yorkshire Head 2022
The South Yorkshire Head saw City of Sheffield Rowing Club’s first head race of 2022 get off to a flying start.
The SY Head is held on Doncaster Rowing Club’s grounds, and is run as a collaborative effort between City of Sheffield Rowing Club and Doncaster Rowing Club.
City of Sheffield Rowing Club teamed up with University of Sheffield Rowing Club to share a trailer to the event, taking a total of 12 boats between the two clubs.
City of Sheffield members were mainly racing in the first division, to allow members to help run the second division. The first division saw seven City of Sheffield crews racing, which included:
Women’s 8+ Band 1
Women’s J17 4x-
Open 4-
Women’s 4+ Band 1
Open Masters G/H 2x
Women’s Masters E/F 2x
Open J15 2x
The morning gave us a crisp, and slightly breezy start to the day, but the rain managed to hold off throughout the first division. The Open Masters G/H 2x got a respectable time of 23:10.2, and Donald and John proudly collected their trophies for their win, as did Janet and Eli in the Women's Masters E/F with their time of 21:43.3.
The Women’s J17 4X- put in a great effort, expertly steering their way down the River Don, and finishing with a time of 24:12.7. The windy conditions at the start and finish made it challenging to keep the boats still whilst waiting, but the junior girls handled the conditions very well, and teamed up with the Women’s 4+ at the finish to hold both boats still against the bank (you can’t beat a good old tree branch to hold onto!).
The CSRC senior men bolted down the river, finishing with a time of 17:44.5, and taking 2nd place. Lastly, the Women’s 4+ completed the course in a time of 20:33.9, finishing 2nd out of 3 in Band 1, and 2nd out of 6 across bands 1 and 2.
The lunch break saw the rain start to drift in for the second division, which was a much wetter affair than the first division.
Our members filled up on freshly grilled burgers, and homemade baked goods, kindly provided by Doncaster Rowing Club, before City of Sheffield and University of Sheffield members disbanded to go to their relevant posts and help run the second division. This included our expert launch driver Malky Middleton, who cruised up and down the river helping keep everything under control.
Division two saw more Doncaster and University of Sheffield crews race, as well as one City of Sheffield Women’s J16 2X crew. Although the weather was quite unpleasant in the second division, all crews put in a good performance and coped well with the conditions.
City of Sheffield RC members then headed home, ready to start training for their next race, which will be Head of the Trent on Sunday 27 February 2022.
Useful links: Full Results | Event Photography