Dover Rowing Club were in action at the weekend in the BTC Head of the River 2026. This was the 50th anniversary of this event run on the 5km Itchen river course through Southampton. With no Adur Head this year, this was an opportunity for Dover rowers to experience a longer river race as the club builds for the coastal season.
The Senior Coastal Pair saw Will Coleman and Jasper Mallet competing. The race is run in a time trial format with the crews uncertain of how they are placing until the results are released. Coleman and Mallet pushed hard, racing Hants and Dorset crews who are more familiar with the winding river currents and the bridges on the course. The gap between the leading crews appeared pretty consistent throughout the race and there was a little disappointment when the times came in. The Lymington crew won by 4 seconds over Dover’s crew who finished second in a time of 19 minutes 54 seconds.
Tom Stothart raced in the Coastal Single and was under pressure early from the BTC sculler who quickly established a lead. Local knowledge helped BTC continue to ease away down the course but Stothart didn’t give up his pursuit finishing second in a time of 19 minutes and 53 seconds, closing to 21 seconds behind the winner.
A new J16 Girls Quad crew were taking on the challenge of a course 5 times longer than a normal age group race. Dover’s crew of Elizabeth Strong, Hollie Castree, Holly Young, Poppy Worthing-Taylor, coxed by Lee Stampton, were the last Dover crew in the first session. It was a tough race for the young crew in unfamiliar setting but they worked well and showed real promise for the season to come. They finished in a time of 24 minutes and 50 seconds cementing fourth place behind the winners Lymington.
The second session saw Coleman and Mallet race in a river pair. A good start saw Dover’s crew hunting Southampton ARC as they followed them down the course. It developed into a good dual which saw Southampton pulling away at the end as the first race started to take it toll on the Dover pair’s legs. Dover finished second 19 seconds down in 21 minutes 16 seconds.
The Woman’s Junior Coastal Four saw two crews competing. Ella Cook, Nikki Leggatt, Holly Hannington, Emily Harvey coxed by Stampton, Dover’s 2025 Championship qualifying crew, racing against last year’s Novice Crew Janice Bradford, Lily Stafford-Edwards, Alex Henchy, Rhiannon Castree coxed by Stothart. Stampton’s crew were chasing Christchurch directly ahead whilst the Stothart crew were chasing Stampton’s. Given the larger field size it was difficult to judge placings as they pushed down the course. Stampton’s crew maintained their time gap with Christchurch whilst they eased away from the Stothart crew. The race was won by Coalporters with Christchurch trailing them by 6 seconds and Stampton’s crew a further 6 seconds back in 21 minutes and 19 seconds. Stampton’s crew also beat the Herne Bay crew by nearly a minute. Stothart’s crew finished in 9th place in the timings, seconds behind the 8th placed Southsea crew.
Coleman, Dover Captain, was very happy with the squad’s performance which had seen crews push their endurance in these longer races and gain valuable racing experience for the coming season.
