Tom Swallow on sculling for the boathouse...

This event was held over from September last year when it was postponed due to excessive weed growth in the slackly-flowing River Witham. Between Lincoln and Boston there is only one lock, Bardney, which has to be portaged, at the double! I did this 31 mile race once before in a double with Chris Lloyd (m1960), in 4:59 hours. Chris is recovering from a fall, so this year required a solo effort in Class F (Age 60 to 65). There were 62 starters going off from Lincoln at 2 minute intervals. The slowest started first, and I was away 3rd. I expected to be passed by quite a few of the faster boats but hoped to reach Boston inside 5 and one half hours. The record for this age group is 4.00.41. I finished in 4:51:09, an improvement of 8 minutes over 31 miles. My thanks go to Doncaster Rowing Club which kindly provided the boat and transport to enable me to take part. I already have £110 sponsorship collected and look forward to more (Please see below). There is a short clip of me at the beginning of this youtube movie http://youtu.be/_2y5YfJx5YY

Christ's College Boat House was built by subscription in 1875. Boat Captain of that year was H B Burnell, of the family which won Rowing Gold at the Olympics in 1912 and 1948. After all this time, the Boat House is in urgent need of modernisation and extension to cope with the demands of "modern" rowing, i.e women and land based rowing machines.  Plans for a major yet sensitive extension and reconstruction have been approved and a ground survey is underway, but nearly £3 million is needed to complete the job.

This is an opportunity to ensure that Christ's rowers will continue to reach the highest levels of UK and international rowing, whilst giving young undergraduates, like I was once, the chance to sample this most demanding yet satisfying sport. Thank you for reading this far; we're pulling for your College's rowing future.

Tom Swallow (m1965)      

If you would like to sponsor Tom please visit:

/alumni/supporting-christs/donations/.  In [Additional Details], please select E-Boat Club.  .