Dover Rowing Club made their second visit this year to the Itchen river in Southampton, in the BTC Head Race 2025. Club Captain Will Coleman and Jasper Mallet joined together to race in the River and Coastal Pairs races over the 5km course.

The Men’s River Open Pairs race saw Dover’s crew pitted against a pair from the University of Portsmouth. Both crews got a strong start as they raced with the tide and by the midpoint Coleman and Mallet had pushed out to a significant lead. Dover’s crew successfully navigated the bridges and passed four other boats. Kicking on to the finish Coleman and Mallet crossed the line with a clear win in a time of 19 minutes 08 seconds. Their opponents finished in a time of 20 minutes 17 seconds.

In the second division race against the tide, Dover faced a host BTC crew in the Senior Pairs Coastal boats. Dover’s pair set off in pursuit of BTC and were maintaining close contact until, at the second bridge, they got caught behind a Woman’s Quad crew who they could only pass once they cleared the bridge. Now behind and chasing, the Dover crew started to feel the fatigue of the earlier race. At the line Coleman and Mallet finished second in a time of 21 minutes 08 seconds. BTC finished in 20 minutes 26 seconds.

Dover Rowing Club’s Junior squad competed in the National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships. The Championship was run virtually for the first time leading to 7834 entries overall. The competition pitched clubs, state and private schools against each other.
DRC Captain Will Coleman was very impressed with the performance of the young rowers who competed across various age categories. Dover’s 15 competitors submitted 18 entries resulting in an initial racking of 80th and narrowly beating local rivals Folkestone. When the rankings were examined they had been skewed by strong individual entries taking the higher places when compared to club and school team entries. Removing the single rowers from the list, and looking only at the team / club entries in the competition, Dover’s squad ranked 54th nationally.

The Dover squad consisted of:
Year 7: Riley Danko
Year 8: Hollie Castree, Holly Dunham, Erin Sanders, Oliver White
Year 9: Holly Young, Jess Clements
Year 10: Rhiannon Castree, Henry Cox
Year 11: Jack Castree, Sonny Varnes-Stone, Orla Sanders, Ella Cook
Year 13: Evie Holland, Alex Sutherland
There were some stand out performances with Henry Cox finishing 14th in a field of 548. He completed 1434m in 5 minutes, with an excellent 250m split of 01:44.5. Ella Cook was 19th out of 190 after completing 1519m in 6 minutes, with a split of 01:58.5. Jack Castree was 37th recording 1671m in 6 minutes, with a split of 01:47.7 and Sonny Varnes-Stone 56th with 1575m and a split of 01:54.3 out of 238.
The Club would like to thank Jacky Silk for completing all the admin for the competitors.

Dover Rowing Club had a successful start to the 2025 season competing in the Southampton Coastal Head of the River Race and the Adur Head.
At Southampton, Senior Pair Jasper Mallet and Will Coleman, started well chasing down the two BTC crews setting off before them in time trial format. Rowing a good course, Dover’s crew were progressing well when they caught a Junior Pair from Worthing already on the course. Poor steering from Worthing led to a collision which held Dover’s crew up, leaving them to come home fourth in a time of 19 min 32 sec. At the Adur Head the Dover pair had a storming race, determined to make up for the disappointment in Southampton. Racing with the tide in their favour, they rapidly closed down the Bexhill crew in front of them and started picking off the Men’s Double crews released earlier in the time trial. Eating through the doubles, the Dover crew crossed the line in second, after being released in seventh, easily securing the first place result in the Senior Pairs in a time of 14 min 29 sec.

Tom Stothart competed in the Senior Sculls events both days. Stothart had been battling illness leading into the events and had to work hard to fulfil his potential. This paid off with a strong second place in Southampton, finishing in 18 min 54 sec. On the Adur, Stothart was looking good for the win as he powered down the course. Misfortune set in at the start of the final 750m straight when his fixed shoes separated from their footplate. Despite this challenge, Stothart managed hold on for second place in a time of 14 min 37 sec.
Dover had two crews in the Woman’s Double Sculls, Emily Harvey and Janice Bradford racing against Holly Hannington and Alex Henchy in her first ever race. Competing against crews with better knowledge of the course, the new combinations acquitted themselves well, with Harvey / Bradford coming home in fifth in 23 min 42 sec and Hannington and Henchy in sixth in 24 min 55 sec. Hannington and Harvey combined for the Double Sculls on the Adur. Their race was against the tide and saw them face strong cross winds. A determined performance saw them home in second place behind a strong Shoreham crew in a time of 20 min 27 sec.
Nikki Leggatt made her debut in a sculls race on the Adur after working hard in the off season to prepare for the challenge. Despite the strong cross winds, Leggatt performed well placing third behind two Shoreham scullers on their home course, in a time of 21 min 55 sec.
A late seat change saw the Woman’s Novice Crew having to race in the Junior category. The crew of Bradford, Leggatt, Henchy, Harvey coxed by Hannington, performed well with a strong start and a hard driving finish where they secured an excellent third place in a time of 16 min 42 seconds.

Dover Rowing Club held their annual Dinner & Dance, which included the end of season awards, at the Holiday Inn Dover.

Talented junior rower Ella Cook was awarded the Most Improved Junior and the Best Performance of the Year awards. This season Cook progressed into the adult squad performing well as a novice. Cook’s first race saw her win with a Novice Four crew for which she won the Best Performance Award.

The Club Rower’s Rower, voted for by the membership, was Will Coleman the club’s new captain for his performance during the season and support for the development of the members.

The Most Improved Rowers awards went to Emily Harvey for taking her first CARA win in the Novice category as well as her excellent progression with her sculling, for which she received the light hearted ‘Tears to Cheers’ award. Chris Wong received the men’s award for his continuous improvement in training.

Damion Napier received the Club Person of the Year award. Damion has been involved in dealing with some challenging work as part of the Club committee and supported members over the season.

Freya Emmerson won Coxswain of the Year for her coxing and coaching during training.

Janice Bradford received the Role Model of the Year Award for endless enthusiasm and encouragement for all those around her.

Cameron Mackintosh was awarded Novice Sculler of the Year. Mackintosh progressed from Novice to Junior during the season through his determined effort to improve after a series of second place results.

Tom Stothart received the Teamwork award for his organisation of the Learn to Row course and open days, and his coaching through the season.

Outgoing Captain Maria West-Burrows gave the Captain’s award to her partner Tony Burrows.

Further light hearted awards were issued to Holly Hannington for the ‘Most Epic Crab’ when racing at Southampton, Nikki Leggatt the ‘Better Late Than Never Award’, Kira Roberts for ‘Best Cheerer of the Year’, Mackintosh, Eddie Briggs, Napier and Wong the ‘Most Likely to Need a Life Jacket’, ‘Best Choir’ was presented to Hollie and Rhiannon Castree, Holly Young, Erin and Orla Sanders, and Anna Gordon received the ‘Best Dressed Rower’.

Thanks go to Emily Harvey for organising the event, Jacky Silk for preparing the awards, Damion Napier for providing equipment and the staff at the Holiday Inn for a lovely evening.

Dover Rowing Club held their end of season prize giving, following a successful season. Dover members this season have won titles at the South Coast Championships and the British Offshore Championships, with others competing at Henley Royal Regatta. The Woman’s Novice Four winners, Emily Harvey, Nikki Leggatt, Holly Hannington, Janice Bradford coxed by Will Colman, were formally presented with their South Coast Championship trophy which was absent at the event itself. The Junior Senior Men’s Four winners Will Colman, Jasper Mallett, Sebastian Steele, Cameron Macintosh coxed by Ella Cook were also in attendance to receive their individual awards.

Captain Maria West-Burrows thanked Club Secretary Jacky Silk for all the fantastic work she does for the club, Tony Burrows trailer towing and along with Steve Woods, Will Coleman and Nick Bailey for their work on boat maintenance and David Newman for press reports.

Club awards went to Zara White and Janice Bradford as joint winners of the Most Improved Female Rower. White received the award for her continued improvement, whilst Bradford, who joined during the season, brought an abundance of enthusiasm and a competitive attitude to help propel her crew to the South Coast Championship title. Duncan Taylor was awarded the Men’s Most Improved Rower for his continuous improvement and hard work. The Most Improved Junior went to Josh Grassby, from what is a strong group of younger rowers at the club. Coxswain of the year and the ‘Rowers Rower’ awards both went to Will Coleman for his hard work within the club and the willingness to cox whenever available. Jacky Silk was the easy choice for Club Person of the Year for all the behind the scenes work she carries out to keep the club progressing forward. The final Captain’s Award went to Oliver White, Sonny Hart, Henry Cox and Artie Everington-Nee who make up the club’s J14 crew, which West-Burrows has enjoyed coaching and coxing throughout the season.

Dover Rowing Club were in winning action in the 66th South Coast Championships held at Folkestone Rowing Club over a straight 2km course running from Princes Parade car park to Sandgate Castle. The event is the coming together of three divisions of coastal rowing, featuring 38 clubs from Kent to Cornwall. Conditions were generally good, with sections of the course becoming rough through the day.

The Men’s Open Junior / Senior Four crew of Cameron Mackintosh, Will Coleman, Sebastian Steele, Jasper Mallet was coxed by Ella Cook. The nature of the race timings had meant that Dover needed to deploy more coxes than normal and this was her first time coxing a race. Dover had a great start and were half a length up on Herne Bay within a few hundred metres. With Herne Bay’s bowman level with Mallet in the stroke seat, the crews charged down the course. As they passed the Club House, Herne Bay moved up the side of Dover’s boat but Dover reacted and regained their half a length lead. This effectively broke Herne Bay and allowed Dover to secure the win at the line.
In the Women’s Invitation Novice Fours, Dover’s crew of Janice Bradford, Nikki Leggatt, Holly Hannington, Emily Harvey coxed by Coleman had a strong start and were in the mix with the leading crews. The race developed into a battle between Dover and Eastbourne with Dover taking the lead through the middle 1000m. From the shore it appeared a tight race coming past the club house with Dover a little up. As the last 20 strokes were laid down Dover pulled clear by over a length.

The Boys U14 Quad Sculls featuring Oliver White, Henry Cox, Sonny Hart, Artie Everington-Nee and coxed by Maria West-Burrows, raced over a 1km course. There was a tight start with all crews starting well. Dover moved into second as the race progressed but were unable to close down the leaders, finishing as runners up in the event. The result showed the hard work that the young boys have been putting in.
Ella Cook was a late call up to row with Plymouth in the Girls U16 Quad Sculls and adjusting to a new crew was challenging. They came home second in the heat and fifth in the final.
The Boys U16 Quad Sculls of Josh Grassby, Ben Fagg, Bo Corby, Beau Everington-Nee coxed by Mallet raced in heat 1. The crew unfortunately ‘caught a crab’ which damaged the rigger during the race. Despite the impact of this damage they battled on and came home an impressive fifth. In heat 2, Dover’s Tom Gold rowed with a Southsea crew who just missed out on the final coming home in fourth.
In the Women’s Open Junior Fours heat 1, Freya Emmerson, Leggatt, Hannington, Harvey coxed by first time cox Beau Everington-Nee got a good start and moved into a qualifying place through the mid section of the race. As they passed the club house, they were comfortably second securing a finals place.
In heat 2, Marie Cockerell, Emma Mansell, West-Burrows, Emmeline McArdle coxed by Sara Scrivens struggled to break into the qualifying places. Mansell had been a late replacement due to illness in the regular crew. Despite fighting hard the crew came home in fifth.

The Woman’s Junior final came straight after the Novice win with Leggatt, Hannington and Harvey coming to shore to swap Emmerson into the boat before rowing to the start, with Coleman coxing. Although the less than ideal timing led to a greater challenge for the crew, they pushed hard through the first half of the race. They were unable to challenge at the finish, coming home sixth.
The Masters Open 40+ Fours of Jon Cook, Bradford, Heather Corby, Nick Bailey coxed by Coleman found their final challenging. Off the pace they had fallen to sixth place at the halfway point and could not improve their position at the line.
Dover’s excellent performance left them second in the regatta’s overall aggregate behind Southampton Coalporters.

The Club would like to thank Dover’s Jacky Silk, the Event Secretary, who had many late nights helping to organise the event with Folkestone RC and the SCC event committee and all the umpires and officials that made the event possible.

Dover Rowing Club had two rowers involved in the British Offshore Championships held at Exmouth, Devon. Experienced offshore rower Maria West-Burrows was in a new partnership with Saffron Walmsley-Preece in the women’s doubles event.

The offshores differ from Dover’s normal CARA competitions which hug the coastline over 2 km course. The race featured a 6 km course starting from the beach and moving directly out to sea with 9 turns to negotiate.

The Dover crew were in lane 3 and were third off the start. Coming to the crucial first turn Dover had the racing line but were hit by Carrick’s crew who came in too shallow and hit the buoy stopping both crews. As the boats separated there was frustration as other crews passed them. Moving to the second buoy Dover avoided a second crash as Carrick again steered into another crew. Now clear, the two rowers started hunting down the crews ahead of them, overhauling Jersey between turns 3 and 4. Through turns 5 to 7 the rough conditions saw a lot of pulling on the rower’s left side to maintain their course as they battled the wind and waves. This made it challenging to close on the leading crews. As Dover’s crew turned for the run home, they were unable to improve on the fifth place, finishing in a time of 41 minutes 2.1 seconds
Better luck at the first turn would have delivered a higher finish and West-Burrows and Walmsley-Preece can console themselves that they made the qualifying standard for the World Offshore Championship should they wish to enter.