Devizes to Westminster 2019
DW 2019 took place on a glorious weekend – glorious if you were out and about in the sunshine, but tough if you were out to paddle to Westminster.
25 Devizes Canoe Club paddlers made it to the start line, which is a feat in itself as it means a winter of training leading up to Easter.
The Club headlines
Of the 146 starters in the Senior Doubles there were 31 retirements, but all 5 Devizes crews finished. Special mention to Mark and Steve, the Epic Tri 2019 Team, for whom DW was just a part but who made it to the finish – more details here
The conditions meant the race for most was taking at least an hour longer than anticipated, and no crews had reached the critical point at Teddington when the tide window opened. Indeed the first crew in the race didn’t arrive there until about 45 minutes later. Three of the club’s crews were amongst those who missed the first tide, but they didn’t quit, they waited the 8 hours at Teddington Lock for the second tide and finished.
In the 4 day event the Club’s three junior crews were all in the top 20 that took part in the fast crew massed start on Monday morning and ended up as the winning Junior Team with Adam and JT finishing 4th overall and Maddie and Catriona 2nd Junior Ladies.
Mae and Pete were 2nd in the Vet/Junior class, holding on to that position from the first day onwards.
In the Endeavour Class (nominally a “non competitive” category) both Devizes crews did what they set out to do. Katherine and Claire after last year’s disappointment when the race was terminated early got to Westminster at last, and Matt and Nick, who got in a boat for the first time in September, made it in style!
The Club results:
| Senior Doubles | Time | Position |
| Jonathan and Simon | 21:21:51 | 18 |
| Mark and Steve | 25:35:05 | 71 |
| Neil and Kevin | 32:25:35 | 101 |
| Dan and Rob | 36:46:48 | 109 |
| Ian and Steve | 36:56:40 | 110 |
| Junior Doubles | Time | Position |
| Adam and JT | 19:08:46 | 4 |
| Josh and Finn | 20:30:20 | 9 |
| Maddie and Catriona | 21:12:29 | 19 |
| Junior/Vet | Time | Position |
| Mae and Pete | 20:23:19 | 2 |
| Senior Singles | Time | Position |
| Ali | 19:26:43 | 8 |
| Matt | 23:38:08 | 28 |
| Edd | 5:10:32 (rtd) | 4 (Day 1) |
| Endeavour (non-competitive class so no positions given) | Time |
| Katherine and Claire | 25:48:16 |
| Matt and Nick | 27:20:24 |
Full results (which are still provisional and will be for some time) can be found here
Congratulations to all the Club’s paddlers, and thanks and congratulations to their invaluable support crews without whom the paddlers could not compete. Many thanks as well to the DW organization and the massive team of volunteers who give so much to make the event possible.
