NCC Sprints over the line!

Report: Nottingham September Sprint Regatta (including the Inter-services Sprint competition) September 6/7th 2025

We had a first time attendee at the September Sprint Regatta at Nottingham Watersports Centre, Well done to Rebecca Bird and also Alex Burt who was attending as part of the Army Team competing in the Inter-Services competition integrated annually at this Sprint Regatta.

Rebecca

Women C/D K2 1000m FINAL : 2nd R Bird / I Johansson-Ward : 4:45.65

Women C/D K2 500m Heat 1 : 2nd R Bird / I Johansson-Ward : 2:19:85

Women C/D K2 500m FINAL  : 3rd R Bird / I Johansson-Ward : 2:19:22

Women D K1 200m Heat 1 : 6th R Bird : 1:02:06

Women D K1 200m FINAL  : 9th R Bird : 1:00.61

Well done for reaching the two finals. Unfortunately, promotion is based on individual 500m times so Rebecca stays in Women’s D, but it looks as if training with Falcon CC has proved worth the time and energy.

Words rom Rebecca:

"The sprint regatta was good fun, but Nottingham is a long way to go for 10 minutes of racing! I knew nothing about sprinting before this weekend – I expressed an interest and the Falcon sprint team took care of everything. I was already planning to do the Gloucester hasler on the Sunday and kind of thought that as the sprints are such short distances that they wouldn’t really have much of an impact on me… Boy was I wrong! I did 5 races, and I felt every one of them as the day progressed and felt them all when doing the 12 mile hasler on Sunday! The day started really well, coming 2nd in my first race, the 1000m K2. The 500m k2 also went really well, coming 2nd in the heat and then 3rd in the final. The 200m K1 was the first race on my own and it was a bit intimidating! Lining up in your lane with the nose of your boat in the bucket takes a bit of nerve. I didn’t have a great start and came 6th in my heat. I assumed that I was done for the day, so took the weights out of my boat, changed, packed up all my gear and got ready to go home, only to find out that I’d made it through to the finals! I had a better start in the final, but felt all of the earlier races and ended up in 9th. It was a great experience though, and I’d recommend it to anyone with an interest. But, I think to make the most of it you need to go with a couple of friends to make a weekend of it. The days are long and you are on and off the water all day…"

Alex

Inter-Services Men K2 1000m : 5th O Herbert / A Burt : 4:33:55

Inter-Services Men K4 500m : 1st A Urquhart / O Griffiths / O Herbert / A Burt : 1:45:81

Inter-Services Men K2 500m : 4th O Herbert / A Burt : 2:05:70

Inter-Services Men K1 1000m : 5th A Burt : 4:43:26

The Inter-Services events run alongside the normal regatta racing but between the RAF, Navy and the Army it’s all about points and this year the Army took the trophy home. Each service paddler can only compete twice in each day of the weekend Regatta and individual /crew pairings are all gauged as to gaining the max points.

Alex teamed up with Oscar Griffiths in K2 for the marathon and they managed to get the win. The Army also managed to win the marathon events.

Words from Alex:

"The conditions were great for sprints, a slight tail wind and lovely sunshine! ’ve been to over 10 years of Inter Service Regattas and the standard seems to improve year on year."