The next two races in the pre season build up have taken place with a small Richmond team racing at both Thameside 2, two weeks ago, and Waterside D last Sunday.
Mike P. has kindly written the following account of Thameside 2:
Four Richmond paddlers took part in the re-scheduled Thameside 2 on Sunday: Lizzie Broughton in K1, Will Abson & Mike Pigott in K2 and James King in K2 with Poppy Taylor of Southampton Canoe Club. The weather was lovely, although the day could have started better for Lizzie, Will & Mike as one of the three (who shall remain nameless) ‘forgot’ to set their alarm in the morning, turning up 45 minutes late at the canoe club, despite being reminded by the other two the night before that the clocks were changing. After this little hiccup things improved and, after organising a shuttle off some very nice army chaps we were all off on the ‘fast’ start. This proved somewhat optimistic for Will & Mike who were promptly dropped by everyone. The dynamic duo paddled the rest of the way on their own, admiring the nice houses and churches on the riverbank, enjoying the 20 degree weather and regretting wearing two thermal tops, a cag and a buoyancy aid each. They finished in a rather sedate 2hrs23mins. Lizzie and James had a more competitive paddle, with Lizzie sticking with James and Poppy for the whole race. James and Poppy won the mixed K2 in 2:07:26 and Lizzie, the only senior lady K1 paddler, was a mere one second slower. Both crews beat all the other K2s in the race. We returned to a Richmond for tea and homemade brownies, Lizzie with her water bottle prize for winning, Will with his 2nd bacon sandwich of the day and Mike feeling a little sickly having drunk two large hot chocolates post race.
The 34 miles of Waterside D put off all but the most hardy Richmond DW paddlers, with just three K2s racing. Our small team raced very well with second places for Beth/ Sue in ladies K2, third for Rob/ Nettie in mixed K2 and 9th for Tom/ Laura in the same class. All crews are looking good for DW in two weeks- best of luck to all.
