Royal Chester Rowing Club

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Royal Chester Rowing Club

Royal Chester Rowing Club is a thriving competitive Rowing Club based on the River Dee in Chester. We

20/10/2026

Our neighbours Grosvenor Rowing Club hosted their annual Dee Autumn Head on Sunday. Twenty crews from Royals, from eights all the way down to singles, raced the 4km course - and whilst the sun shone for us, the wind made for challenging racing. However, the club came away with an impressive ten wins across the Senior, Masters, and Junior squads. Particularly notable are the Senior Women, who won both the W8+ and W4-, as well as the J16+ squad, who won multiple events in their age category.

Thank you to Grosvenor for organising another wonderful event, and to all the visiting clubs for supporting exciting racing on the Dee.

🥇W8+ (pictured) - fastest women’s crew of the day
🥇Op MasC/D 4+
🥇Op MasC/D/E 4x- (B2)
🥇Op J16 4x-
🥇W J16 4x-
🥇W4-
🥇W J16 2x
🥇Op J16 2x
🥇Op 1x
🥇Op J16 1x

03/10/2026

A determined team of senior women from Royals completed the National Three Peaks Challenge last week, raising funds to support the purchase of a new women’s Empacher 8+ for the club. Despite bleak and wintery weather (including 70mph winds, freezing fog, darkness, and pouring rain), the crew completed the challenge in 26 hours and 39 minutes, from the foot of Ben Nevis to the final descent of Yr Wyddfa - a very impressive effort involving 3000m of ascent and 38km of walking.

Huge thanks to Will and Ed from the senior men’s squad for driving, and supporting the women so well throughout the challenge 🙌🏻

The squad have very nearly reached their lofty fundraising goal of £9000 - any final donations can be made by following the link in our bio!

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25/09/2026

Royals were thrilled to host another highly successful Chester Long Distance Sculls last weekend. With clubs visiting from all over the country to race in a variety of sculling boats over 5km, competitors enjoyed the last of the summer sunshine and some fiercely competitive racing on the River Dee. Royals athletes came home with four 🥇, five 🥈, and thirteen 🥉 - a great effort for the first race of the season.

Many thanks as always to the volunteers and coordinators, who help to make our Open Events organised, welcoming, and great fun for home and visiting crews alike. Thank you also to our umpires, and to the Open Events committee for running such a fabulous event. And, finally, thank you to Deputy Lord Mayor of Chester, Cllr Alex Tate, for presenting prizes to the deserving winners along with our club chair, Emma Ritson.

🥇WJ16 2x (Short Course)
🥇Op J16 1x
🥇WMasC/D 4x-
🥇Op J16 2x

North West Rowing

08/09/2026

The Senior Women will be taking on the Three Peaks Challenge on the 26-27th September, fundraising to support the purchase of their new Empacher 8+. This huge endeavour will see a group of nine women attempt to summit the three highest peaks in Great Britain (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Yr Wyddfa) in under 24 hours, climbing 3000m and walking 42km in total. The link to their fundraising page is in our Instagram bio. Best of luck, ladies!

⛰️

01/08/2026

Our Junior Summer School is off to a flying start! Great to see our attendees this week enjoying the sunshine 🙌🏻

We still have places available for the weeks beginning 10th and 17th August - see our pinned post or drop us a DM for more details!

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28/07/2026

Royals sent crews from the Junior and Senior squads to the British Rowing Club Championships at Holme Pierrepont earlier in the month. Our athletes raced on Friday and Monday in glorious warm weather. There were some great results across the board, including:

💫 1st in the B Final for the senior men’s Op Club 2x
💫 2nd place in the B Final for Josh in the Op J15 1x
💫 5th in the A Final for Isla and Maeve in the W J15 2x

Many of the junior crews doubled up in age categories or boat classes, making it a busy weekend for all of the athletes, the J15 group in particular. Thank you so much to our junior coaches and parent helpers, as well as all involved in towing, trailering, and rigging!

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16/07/2026

Our J14/15 squad recently raced at Ironbridge Regatta, with twenty crews racing across both days, and had a highly enjoyable and successful weekend, with wins in coxed fours and doubles for this talented group. Thank you to for hosting a great event, and, as usual, thank you to all the parents and volunteers who support our juniors when racing away.

🥇Op J15 4x+
🥇W J15 4x+
🥇W J15 2x

07/07/2026

Henley Royal Regatta 2026 - The Wargrave Challenge Cup

Our senior women’s 8+ did the club proud at HRR. Having gone through qualifiers at a later time than initially planned to avoid the scorching heat, they were one of only six provincial crews who made it into the main draw for the Wargrave.

Racing for the first time on Tuesday, a tough draw against Molesey R.C ‘B’ saw them knocked out in the first round. The race was close; having been beaten by the same Molesey crew at HWR ten days earlier, the girls approached the race with great determination, and held their opposition to the same verdict of 1¼ lengths over a longer distance.

Our Wargrave ‘A’ boat was the only women’s crew from the North-West region to qualify for HRR this year, which represents the continual growth and strengthening of the senior women’s squad here at Royals. They are hugely grateful to everyone who came to support and clap out (or watched from afar), and to those who helped with trailering, blade painting, and supporting them across the season.

Want to join us next year? DM us or fill out the form in our bio.

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06/07/2026

Henley Royal Regatta 2026 – Britannia Challenge Cup

Our men’s coxed four, made up of athletes Ed Press, Harry McGarva, Alex Bain, Will Lupton, and cox Sarah Armstrong, arrived in Henley with a recent run of excellent regatta results, and a combined HRR appearance count of 46. This experience proved critical in their campaign of thrilling races across the week.

Wednesday saw them win by 1¼ lengths over Fairmount R.A (USA) in the fastest Brit race of the day. Their quarter final on Thursday featured a strong comeback versus Thames R.C ‘B’, rowing through to win by ½ a length. On Saturday, their gutsy semi-final against London RC saw the crew close from 1½ lengths down to overlap, finishing just ½ length short in an incredible display of physical and mental strength.

Royals as a whole is extraordinarily proud of the crew for their achievements this week, and the composure and passion with which they represented our club. They were also one of only two provincial club crews to make it through to the semi-finals this year, once again punching above our weight on the national rowing scene.

Congratulations to K.A.R.Z.V. De Hoop, who won the event, and massive thanks from the crew to everyone who supported – including on the bank, at the boat tents, watching online, sending messages, towing trailers and painting blades.

Want to join us next year? DM us or fill out the form in our bio.

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29/06/2026

ROYALS RACING TOMORROW

HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA

Wargrave ‘A’ races tomorrow at 3pm against Molesey ‘B’. They will be boating at 2:15pm, Boat Tent E - meet us there to clap the crew out.

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Address

The Boathouse, West Esplanade
York
YO1 6FZ

Website

http://www.royalchester.org/

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