Record Number of Wins

Over 100 wins within the past year it is not surprising that Talkin Tarn Amateur Rowing Club has become a club with one of the most successful junior sections in the country.

The club has a grand total of 108 wins from various regattas and Championships from as near as Hexham to places further down south such as Manchester, Bradford and Nottingham. Seven years ago, the club could only manage 12 wins with just seven crews competing. Fast-forward to today and the club have managed to raise their memberships to over 50 aged from 10 years old to 70+.

To start this year, Talkin Tarn ARC competed at National Indoor Rowing Championships; first the English and then the Scottish. The English Indoor Rowing Event saw the club picking up 5 medals; all from the women’s squad. Kate Brown gained Gold in Womens Junior 18 Sprint of 500 metres, and Bronze in the 2000 metre race. Alex Hill won two Silver medals in Womens Junior 15 2000 metres and Womens Junior 16 Sprint. The fifth medal, Bronze, was picked up by Kim Warwick competing in Womens 30 – 39 2000 metres. The Scottish Indoor Rowing Championships saw the boys winning the majority of the medals. Alex Widdowson gained Gold in Mens Junior 12, George Gawne also a Gold medal winner in Mens Junior 10 and Connor Mark winning Bronze in Mens Junior 13. Kate Brown also won a Bronze medal competing in Womens Junior 16 2000 metres.

The club began the spring/summer season at Chester-le-Street and finished at Durham Primary. Competing at 14 regional regattas in the space of 5 months and travelling over 5000 miles, Talkin Tarn ARC gained a total of 85 wins; 13 of which were obtained at the clubs home regatta.

This year, the Talkin Tarn Club sent four crews to the National Championships of Great Britain, held at Holme-Pierre Point, Nottingham. The crews consisted of Mens Junior 18 Double Sculls, Martin Nugent and Phil Beaty, Mens Junior 14 Double Sculls, Matt Gawne and Connor Mark, Womens Junior 18 Pairs and Womens Junior 18 Double Sculls, Kate Brown and Jodie Mark and Womens Junior 15 Single Sculls, Alex Hill. The club came away from these Championships with a Bronze Medal, won by Jodie and Kate and one narrowly missed 3rd place of under one second by Matt and Connor. Club Captain and Coach Graeme Mark said; “To be able to get crews to a standard where they can compete at National level takes real determination and discipline. The crews have worked hard to get here, and they deserve all the success they get.”

Finishing off this year’s wins, the club competed in the North of England Long Distance Sculling Series, held over six consecutive Saturdays on the Rivers Tyne, Tweed, Wansbeck, Tees and Wear of distances from 1800m to 5000m. Five wins were recorded from these events. Matt Gawne and Connor won two from Tyne and Wear, Nick Cowan at Hylton and Kim Warwick, Charlotte Brown, Catherine Gammage, Alex Hill and Beth Bareham winning Womens Senior 4 Coxed Quad at Tees and, along with Claire Nugent, also won Fastest Womens Coxed Quad over the whole Series.

Club Chairman Mike Dodd said; ‘It’s a real achievement for a club like ours, with few members and little facilities, to have a record win of 108 in a year. The club members should be proud of themselves. A lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes from volunteers who give up their spare time to coach, man safety boats on club sessions, secretarial work, transporting to and from regattas and basically pushing the club in the right direction. The year after next, we will be celebrating our 150th anniversary. The club has defiantly moved forward over the last few years and exciting times lie ahead.’

This is not to say this total cannot be matched next year, Talkin Tarn ARC will be aiming to pull out all the stops to top this year’s achievements.