The final round of the 2025 Long Distance Sculling (LDS) Series went ahead in balmy autumnal conditions on Saturday, November 8th, combining with Durham Autumn Small Boats Head (ASBH) on the same day, as organisers rose to the challenge of accommodating the 350 or so entries wanting to race the 1800 metre course.
The challenge was duly met thanks to efficient organization and a slightly earlier start time that ensured all ran smoothly with only minor incidents as crews raced in two LDS divisions followed by two ASBH divisions.
Competitors representing 30 clubs from the North, North West and Yorkshire regions attended, no mean achievement on a busy day for competitions around the country that also included Kingston Head, Northwich Head, Cambridge Head and Inverness Head, as well as GB Junior Trials at Boston and the World Beach Sprint finals in Turkey.
Durham ARC had the most entries with 40, closely followed by Tyne ARC and Yarm School, while the Durham Colleges contributed 65 entries.
Yarm School had a very successful day with 5 event wins in the LDS and 8 in the ASBH, including the two fastest times overall in both competitions and an amazing time of 5.57.4 set by the Yarm J18 coxless quad in the ASBH.
Durham ARC also achieved 13 wins on the day, one being a joint win with Chester-le-Street, both of whose J16 scullers recorded identical LDS times of 7.14.5.
Chester-le-Street also provided the fastest Women’s single sculler and the J16 girls 1x winner. Berwick entered only 2 competitors, one of whom won the J15 1x in the morning competition before the two raced in the pair in the afternoon.
Yarm School set the pace
Long Distance Sculling
The Durham/Hexham/Tyne ARC composite quad won the MasDE handicap in 6.24.1 with a MasD 4x- in the LDS and went on to win the MasEFH 4x- in 6.34.1 with a MasE 4x- in the ASBH.
Also in the LDS Nick Baird won the Open 1x in 7.11.7, and Aidan Lawlor won the J16 1x in 7.14.5.
The J17 girls 4x- was 2nd to Hexham in 7.23.7, nine seconds behind Yarm’s winning J18 girls quad.
Another win came from Andy Jaggard and Richard Court in the MasG 2x with 7.28.6, finishing ahead of Tony Edwards and Roger Stainforth in the MasH 2x.
The MasE 4x- was 2nd in the MasDE 4x- handicap event in 7.35.4.
Patrick Lakey had his first race of the day in the J18 1x, finishing 2nd to Hexham in 7.36.3.
The J14 boys coxed quad claimed the fourth win of the day in 7.36.6, eight seconds faster than Yarm School.
J18 girls 2x at Durham LDS 2025
Further successes went to Charlotte Foster and Seren Williams in the J18 girls double with a time of 7.49.9, and to the Women’s MasF 4x- who overcame Hexham in a WMasCF 4x handicap in 7.56.8.
The WMasC 2x was 2nd to Talkin Tarn F in a WMasCF handicap in 8.01.8.
Hunor Pinter was 2nd to Jaden Eke of Berwick in the J15 1x in 8.30.9, and the J15 girls coxed quad was 3rd in their race in 8.34.6.
The Women’s coxed quad was 2nd in 8.59.3 on their first competitive appearance.
Paulo Fortis and David Westwood in MasC 1x finished 3rd and 4th against Tees RC in a MasCI 1x handicap in 9.19.4 and 9.29.5 respectively, and the J13 2x was unopposed finishing in 10.23.2.
The final win in the LDS went to Joyce Collett who won a WMasDFHI 1x handicap with 9.53.2 in the WMasH 1x, 3 seconds faster than Rachel Terry in the WMasD 1x who was 2nd in 8.52.4.
Event wins in the LDS –
- MasD 4x- DUR/HEX/TYN composite
- WMasF 4x- English
- J14 4x+ De Lucas
- MasG 2x Jaggard
- WJ18 2x Foster
- Open 1x Baird
- J16 1x band 1 Lawlor (joint win)
- WMasH 1x Collett
Full LDS results are here.
J14 boys 4x+ at Durham LDS
Autumn Small Boats Head
The ASBH provided 5 wins for DARC.
The Durham/Hexham/Tyne MasE 4x- won the MasEFH 4x- in 6.34.1, with the MasH 4x- taking second place in 8.03.7.
The J16 boys coxless quad was 2nd by 2 seconds to Yarm School in 6.38.2, and the J15 boys coxed quad with a time of 7.11.4 was also 2nd to Yarm School.
Roger Dunn and Darren Smith swept aside the challenge of St John’s College and Berwick to win the Open pair in 7.17.6.
Two DARC Women’s coxless quads placed 4th and 5th to Yarm School and Tyne ARC in 7.25.9 and 7.45.9.
Patrick Lakey made a 6 second improvement on the time he set in the LDS, winning the Open 1x in the ASBH in 7.30.8.
MasG 2x
Three DARC Masters coxed fours contested a MasCDF 4+ handicap with two Tees fours, the MasD 4+ taking the honours for a fourth win in the ASBH in 7.39.3, ahead of the MasF crew who placed 3rd in 8.09.1 while the MasC crew having their first race in the competition recorded a time of 8.34.9 in 5th place. A fourth Masters four raced in band 4 of the Open 4+ and placed 7th in 9.03.1.
The Women’s coxless four was 2nd to Tyne ARC in 7.55.4.
The J14 boys coxed quad was 2nd to a Tyne ARC/Chester-le-Street composite in 7.58.0.
The Women’s coxed four raced in band 3 of the Women’s 4+ and placed 3rd to Hild/Bede College and QEHS in 8.09.3.
The Women’s MasE coxless quad was 2nd to Hexham in a WMasCDEF 4x- race in 8.20.1.
The final victory of the day went to the J15 girls coxed quad who overcame two QEHS quads and Tyne ARC to win in a time of 8.26.6.
Two DARC Women’s coxed quads placed 3rd and 4th in the W 4x+ in 9.17.4 and 10.07.9.
The WJ14 4x+ recorded 9.40.0 placing them 5th in their event, and the J16 girls single was 4th in 9.22.2.
Event wins in the ASBH –
- MasE 4x- DUR/HEX/TYN composite
- MasD 4+ Matthews
- WJ15 4x+ Smith
- Open 2- Dunn
- Open 1x Lakey
Women’s 4x+
The sweep rowing events were dominated by the Durham Colleges who won each of the 4 bands in Open and Women’s categories with the exception of a victory for Tyne ARC in band 1 of the Women’s 4+.
Winners of 4+ events were as follows –
- Open 4+ band 1 – Collingwood College
- Open 4+ band 2 – Grey College
- Open 4+ band 3 – South College
- Open 4+ band 4 – University College
- Women’s 4+ band 1 – Tyne ARC
- Women’s 4+ band 2 – Collingwood College
- Women’s 4+ band 3 – Hild & Bede College
- Women’s 4+ band 4 – Hatfield College
ASBH results are here.
A list of all ASBH event winners is below.
| Event | Winner | Time | Entries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open 4+ band 1 | Collingwood College | 6.19.9 | |
| Open 4+ band 2 | Grey College | 7.06.7 | |
| Open 4+ band 3 | South College | 7.14.3 | |
| Open 4+ band 4 | University College | 7.06.1 | |
| MasCDF 4+ | Durham ARC | 7.39.3 | |
| Open 4- | Tyne ARC | 6.46.5 | |
| Open 4x+ | Durham School | 6.52.5 | |
| J15 4x+ | Yarm School | 6.48.7 | |
| J14 4x+ | Chester-le-Street/Tyne ARC | 7.29.4 | |
| Open 4x- | Yarm School | 6.17.5 | |
| J18 4x- | Yarm School | 5.57.4 | |
| J16 4x- | Yarm School | 6.35.9 | |
| MasCD 4x-- | Tees | 7.05.1 | |
| MasEFH 4x- | Durham ARC/Hexham/Tyne | 6.34.1 | |
| Women’s 4+ band 1 | Tyne ARC | 7.23.9 | |
| Women’s 4+ band 2 | Collingwood College | 7.34.3 | |
| Women’s 4+ band 3 | Hild & Bede College | 7.56.6 | |
| Women’s 4+ band 4 | Hatfield College | 7.57.9 | |
| Women’s 4- | Tyne ARC | 7.11.9 | |
| Women’s 4x+ | Chester-le-Street | 8.35.6 | |
| WJ15 4x+ | Durham ARC | 8.26.6 | |
| WJ14 4x+ | Yarm School | 8.25.2 | |
| Women’s 4x- | Yarm School | 6.45.4 | |
| Women's J16 4x- | Yarm School | 7.06.9 | |
| WMasCDEF 4x- | Hexham | 7.17.7 | |
| Open 2- | Durham ARC | 7.17.6 | |
| Open 2x | Sunderland Univ | 7.10.5 | |
| J18 2x | St Leonard’s | 7.00.1 | |
| J16 2x | Chester-le-Street | 6.40.0 | |
| J15 2x | Yarm School | 7.07.3 | |
| Women’s 2x band 1 | Chester-le-Street | 7.43.2 | |
| Women's 2x band 2 | Tyne ARC | 7.56.4 | |
| WJ18 2x | Hexham | 7.53.7 | |
| WJ16 2x | Chester-le-Street | 7.39.2 | |
| WJ15 2x | Durham School | 8.09.6 | |
| WMasDFG 2x | Talkin Tarn | 8.42.6 | |
| Open 1x | Durham ARC | 7.30.8 | |
| J18 1x | Durham School | 7.28.2 | |
| J16 1x | Cambois | 7.09.3 | |
| J15 1x | Cambois | 7.46.1 | |
| Women's 1x | Van Mildert | 8.26.7 | |
| WJ18 1x | Hexham | 8.53.8 | |
| WJ16 1x | Infinity | 8.41.7 | |
| WJ15 1x | Queen Elizabeth HS | 8.25.6 |
Crew photographs from LDS and ASBH are available from AllMarkOne here.
Durham Small Boats Head is on February 7th 2026.