A record Head of the River Race

The Tideway Heads (Women’s Head and Head of the River Race) are always the finale of our winter season. The weather gods had sadly decided that this year the rowing community would have to suffer with flooding and storms meaning many rivers had been in near constant flood or races being cancelled.

While we were blessed with the canal behaving, the flooding meant that the Women’s Head would be running on a strong Yellow Flag and we made the sad choice not to attend.

For the men, the conditions were improving and for just a few brief hours, the River Thames went to a Green Flag which was a sigh of relief for our crews for what would be a special Head of the River Race for Leeds Rowing Club.

Head of the River in 2024 would be a number of firsts for us. It was the first time we had ever entered full junior crews into HORR and it was the first time we had taken three eights.

All three crews exceeded all expectations and had a fantastic row, claiming quite a few scalps along the way and setting the bar for next season!

LRC I (Club Open) - Started 120th, finished 92nd (our second best ever performance for a first boat).

LRC II (Club Junior) - Started 289th, finished 167th (our best ever performance for a second boat).

LRC III (Club Junior) - Started 310th, finished 226th.

In addition, it was fantastic to see ex-LRC members doing well in other club boats including George in the Oxford Brookes 2nd 8, Sam in the Molesey 2nd 8, Dan in the Leander 3rd 8 and Cory in the Tyne 1st 8. Seeing our former club members rowing at top clubs across the country sets the bar for our future athletes.

A special thanks to the coaches - for the seniors, Gav and David, and for the juniors Rob and Susie. The hard work paid off!