Four of Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s adaptive athletes attended British Rowing Indoor Championships at the NEC Birmingham on Saturday along with 1,800 other athletes. The day started with Jess Dowdeswell in her first indoor event: Jess went off strong and stayed strong right through to the finish with a convincing win taking Gold in the WPR1 4 Minute category with
729 metres.
Next up were Ricky Clutterbuck in the IAR5 Open 2k event and Curtis Dickens in the PR2 Open 2k event: sadly Curtis had to withdraw at the start line due to illness. Ricky, also in his first indoor event, dominated to take Gold in seven minutes and fifty five seconds and, in an epic show of sportsmanship, turned to his struggling competitor and cheered him 
through to the finish!
Isaac Clarkson took Gold in the PR3 Yr 10 Boys 5 minute category with 1299m which also placed him 24th out of 45 competitors in the mainstream Yr10 Boys’ competition.
In their final races, Isaac (PR3 Yr10 – 1 minute race) and Jess (WPR1 – 1minute) comfortably secured more Gold medals with Jess setting a World Record,
beating the current World Record holder by 97 metres! Ricky (IAR5 – 1 minute) was ahead until the final ten seconds when he came off his ergo seat and, without hesitation, continued to row, perched on the rail with only his arms and won a well deserved Silver medal!
Summing up, Courtland Clarkson, Stratford’s newest qualified L2 adaptive 
coach said, “It was great fun for athletes and families, with big crowds, pumping music and plenty of well-earned metal to take home!”
For media coverage, see British Rowing online
https://www.britishrowing.org/2024/12/world-and-british-records-smashed-at-the-british-rowing-indoor-championships-2024 (scroll down to Adaptive Events), Stratford Herald page thirty six and Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-stratford-boat-clubs-adaptive-squad-win-medals-and-break-world-record and on back sports page https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/editions/view/?/Stratford/2024/12/13&pages=24