“Oxford” is half of one of the world’s oldest and most famous amateur sporting events (“The Boat Race”), but through the City of Oxford Royal Regatta, it is the also the heart of one of the UK’s oldest and most “famous” adaptive rowing events:
- Longest Standing Adaptive Rower – Rachel Lunney is the longest standing adaptive rower in the UK and continues to be an active contributor to the adaptive community in many ways including bering an exception host to the City of Oxford Regatta.
- Earliest Adaptive Competition – City of Oxford Regatta is the longest standing adaptive rowing event in the UK.
- First Supported Four – While community adaptive rowing was for many years a singles only affair and then introduced supported adaptive doubles which became popular. Then, City of Oxford Regatta was the first event to introduce the Supported Adaptive 4x+/4+ race (reprised again this year – with some steering challenges by Marlow).
- Birthplace of the Time Handicap System – I still remember chatting with Chris Boys and Hilary Birkenshaw of Guildford in 2016 after a day of particularly lopsided “pararowing” competition and discussing how the whole system could be made more enjoyable and balanced. That conversation led to the initial proposals for the UK “time handicap system” which serves as the foundation for adaptive rowing today.
With this historic legacy, it is no surprise that the event is one of the most smoothly run and accessible events on the adaptive calendar.
Big congrats to the race winners:
- Junior WAda 1x – Isabella Watson, City of Oxford
- Ada 1x A – Ben Marsden, Marlow
- Ada 1x B – Elijah Watson, City of Oxford
- PR1 1x A – Valerie Ingham-Boor, Sudbury
- PR1 1x B – Lee Cairns, Stratford-upon-Avon
- PR1 1x C – Rob Pedley, Stratford-upon-Avon
- WAda 2x/2 – Ilse Owen and Grace Owen, Marlow
- Ada 2x/2- A – Chris Boys and David Jillings, Guildford
- Ada 2x/2- B – Gillian Middleton and Bruce Lynn, Stratford-upon-Avon/Marlow
- Mx Ada 2x – Elijah Watson and Isabella Watson, City of Oxford
