STRATFORD Boat Club rowers Heather Hayton and Tom Doherty were denied the chance to represent Great Britain in the World Club Championships after a heart-breaking post-race elimination.
The duo, competing in the British Rowing Offshore g Championships at Exmouth, finished their race in third place, only to then be told they had inadvertently gone the wrong side of the final buoy and despite some contradictory umpire instructions, were eliminated.
With gold going to Carmarthen in a time of 30mins 37secs, silver to Teign Scullers in 30:49 and bronze to Jersey in 33:11, the top three will now fly the flag for GB in the World Club Championships in Portugal later in this year.
“Whilst it is immensely disappointing to miss out on a medal and Great Britain selection for the World Club Championships, we are extremely pleased to have beaten some very good crews and been competitive with crews thirty years younger,” said Doherty, the club’s Masters Vice Captain.
Stratford had to console themselves with their very good adjusted time of 32:45.
The competition consisted of a number of differing boat and gender category events with boats all launched off the beach and racing over a 6km buoyed course.
Competing in the mixed double sculls final were up against some tough competition in a non age restricted event, the Stratford crew with an average age of 53 faced a number of crews of average age were 20-30 years younger.
