The 2026 Long Distance Sculling Series (LDS) got off to a bright and breezy start with Durham ARC entering more crews than any other club for the opening round at South Hylton on October 3rd, while 25 braved blustery conditions for round 2 and the associated Small Boats Head hosted on the River Tees by Tees Rowing Club the following Saturday.
DARC has amassed 13 victories over the two weekends with Masters and Juniors showing good early season form.
The first round was a stand alone LDS competition hosted on the River Wear by City of Sunderland Rowing Club, with no associated Small Boats Head (SBH). The Masters Women took the award for fastest Women’s quad and Junior Women claimed the fastest Women’s single of the day, event wins over the 4750 metre course between Cox Green and South Hylton going to –
MasF 4x- McCarthy- Open MasE 1x Terry
- Women’s MasD 1x Rachel Terry
- Fastest Women’s 4x- Ashton
- Fastest Open 4x+ de Lucas
- Fastest Women’s 1x Livvy Terry
- Fastest WJ17/18 2x Belsey
There were six more 2nd place finishes in an entry of 69 –
Open 1x Baird- WMasD 2x Bruce
- J15 1x McConway
- MasH 4x- Merchant
- WJ18 1x Williams
- MxMasI 2x Gilbert
Full results from South Hylton are here.
Tees attracted 200 entries for the Northern Rowing Council’s LDS competition and 188 for the Tees Small Boats Head, both races being contested over 5.1km and finishing in front of the new Stockton Waterfront Amphitheatre.
WMasB 4x
The Masters Women continued their momentum with a close contest between the WMas B and WMas D coxless quads, the B crew coming home as the fastest DARC crew of the day in 21.02.2, four seconds ahead of the D crew, both taking victory in their respective events. The win in a 6-entry WMasD/E 4x- handicap also involving the DARC WMasE quad was the first for the recently formed D crew and followed a win for Rachel Terry in the WMasD single scull at South Hylton.
The Masters Men took victory in the MasF 2x in 23.44.5 at Tees SBH, following on from a win for the MasF 4x- in 18.56.8 at South Hylton LDS.
WMasD 4x-
After winning the fastest Women’s 1x at South Hylton there was a second win for Livvy Terry in the WJ17 1x at Tees LDS, in a commendable 24.05.1 which was the second fastest time of the day for a Women’s 1x.
The J15 boys had a successful day at Tees, winning the J15 2x in the SBH while Daniel McConway won band 2 of the J15 1x in 24.27.8, a faster time than the band 1 winner.
J15 4x+
Event wins at Tees –
LDS
WJ17 1x Terry
WMasB 4x- Ashton
WMasD 4x- Terry
SBH
J15 1x band 2 McConway
J15 2x Garland
MasF 2x Coe
All crews performed well in challenging conditions. Other podium places at Tees were –
2nd place –
MasD 2x Fortis
WJ17 1x Mitchell
MxMasI 2x Gilbert
WJ16 4x- Liu-Hill
WMasC 2x Bruce
MasH 4x- Green
Women’s 1x Gobie
3rd place –
MasE 1x Terry
Women’s- 4x- Fardoe
J15 1x band 2 de Lucas
Full results from Tees LDS are here and Tees SBH here.
Well done to all who took part and many thanks to the organizers and volunteers who make competitions possible.
Trailers at Tees LDS/SBH 2026
Tyne LDS and Tyne United SBH take place on Saturday, October 17th.