Tees Tigers

River Wear Boxing Day Race 2011

Rachel Tonks — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:59:51 +0000

This fantastic traditional event has run since the early 1960s with only one cancellation on record - last year! With contrasting mild temperatures and plenty of glacial-melt this year’s event was well supported as usual by those wanting to burn off that extra helping of christmas pud and choccies from the previous day.

A wide variety of craft were spread across the 60 starters with particularly strong contingents from Tees Tigers and Stockton and Thornaby clubs. A new Hare and Hounds format had the touring class start 8 minutes ahead of the racers and this will only need to be tweaked slightly for next year as it was quite late in the race that the leading touring class paddler was overhauled. Full credit then to George Marley of Sunderland who in the SuperVet category held off his younger and dare I say it ‘more race-conditioned’ competitors to take the touring class in 40.50. As I overtook him he was asking for his margin of lead as he was too in the zone / inflexible to look over his shoulder at those behind him.

Winner overall by a narrow margin was Nicky Cresser of Tees Tigers in 38.38 who had a great but “controlled” dual with Olly Wickham of Sunderland all the way down the course. Darren Cresser romped home to the third podium place showing that parenthood hasn’t slowed him too much. Sandra Hyslop of Durham Uni did a great job keeping the men ahead within sight for the whole race to be first lady home in 39.59. Other notable performances were the Williamson duo who stroked a precise race as first Canadian double in 46.18, Andrew Martin as first junior closely followed by the U14 Kris Wilko. Bethan Kelly showed strong technique to be the leading junior girl. Credit also to Connor Turner and Calum Cresser who produced strong performances in their first Wildwater Racing boat events. (Click below to see the full results)

All were able to claim their finishers T-shirts and snacks provided courtesy of the event sponsor Rapid 9 signs. The Wickham family have been long supporters of this event so thanks to them we have been able to present to Saint Cuthbert’s Hospice in Durham a cheque for £262.

So thanks for coming and bring along your friends to next year’s race.

Michael Mason

* Racing Class includes 8 mins handicap

Name	Bib	Club	Class	Age	Time
Nicky Cresser	9	Tees Tigers	Racing		38.38
Olly Wickham	6	Rapid 9 Signs	Racing		38.42
Darren Cresser	10	Tees Tigers	Racing		39.12
Michael Mason	8	DICK	Racing		39.18
Sandra Hyslop	4	Durham Uni	Racing		39.59
Mark Ledger	2	Tees Tigers	Racing		40.20
George Marley	63	Sunderland	Touring	SuperVet	40.50
Andrew Martin	52	Tees Tigers	Touring	18	41.12
Chaz Cheung	26	Tees Tigers	Touring		41.15
Andy Rhucroft	25	Tees Tigers	Touring		41.16
Kris Wilko	46	Tees Tigers	Touring	13	41.24
David Mills	27	HOAA	Touring	SuperVet	42.03
Russell Rowell	33	Tees Tigers	Touring	16	43.37
Ali Rowell	32	Tees Tigers	Touring		43.46
Bethan Kelly	42	Tees Tigers	Touring	14	43.58
Morgan Wigham	43	Tees Tigers	Touring	15	44.01
Connor Turner	7	Tees Tigers	Racing	13	45.17
Keith Wickham	5	Gate 7	Racing	SuperVet	45.31
Williamson x2	64	Independant	Touring	13, S	46.18
Calum Cresser	3	Tees Tigers	Racing	15	46.37
Ray Hudspith	1	Tyne Valley	Racing		46.41
Terry Colby	59	Independant	Touring		47.25
Richard/Koch	58	HOAA	Touring		48.20
Geoff/James	57	HOAA	Touring		49.03
Jonathon Keay	28	STCC	Touring	18	49.32
Ben Watson	24	Tees Tigers	Touring	16	49.35
Stuart Fawcett	54	STCC	Touring		50.43
Charlie Horsley	56	DICK	Touring	Vet	51.06
James Lakey	39	STCC	Touring	17	52.50
James Martin	55	STCC	Touring	16	52.54
Lisa Hamilton	41	Roker CC	Touring		55.41
Mike Jenkins	40	Roker CC	Touring	Vet	55.48
Jenny Hall	44	DICK	Touring		56.11
Sally Caley	45	STCC	Touring		57.22
Mick Garrett	50	STCC	Touring	Vet	57.47
Mark Robinson	30	Durham Uni	Touring		60.37
Craig Robinson	31	Durham Uni	Touring		60.48
Michala Gardner	29	Durham Uni	Touring		60.56
Coulson x2	51	Liverpool CC	Touring		74.30
Rory Robertson	21	STCC	Touring		74.43
Craig Watermore	32	STCC	Touring		74.46
Richard Lord	47	STCC	Touring		82.17
Plus others…

Tigers test their speed

Rachel Tonks — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:41:41 +0000

Christmas may well be coming and the goose may be getting fat, so thought we could do with testing what progress we are making! With the kind offer from St John’s of using their pool in the school christmas holidays, we jumped at the chance to get some times done! It was a good opportunity to analyse breakout technique and video along with having the chance to take a look at a breakdown of times.

We got some excellent performances that will act as a benchmark for future tests and everyone should have now received a copy of the spreadsheet that has everyone’s times along with an individual breakdown and feedback.

I’m looking at booking a date over easter to get another test done to see how we’re getting on!

Nicky

Local league kicks off with a splash

Rachel Tonks — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:04:01 +0000

The North East regional local league for canoe polo started up again this weekend, organised and ran by Tees Tigers. The location has moved a little further north this year, from it’s usual pool in Darlington to Tynemouth pool, but with the first tournament at West Denton in Newcastle. The local league format is a great way to promote the sport in the region, giving those players not competing in the national leagues the chance to compete over the winter and those who are some much needed practice!

Read on to see the latest league table.

So, most importantly the Div 1 league table! This is how it stands after the first tournament (with only 1 goal difference between the top two teams!!!):

1st      Tigers A
2nd    Tigers B
3rd     Newcastle Old Boys
4th     Tynemouth
5th     Morpeth
=         Newcastle Uni

As to the rest of the tournaments, Div 2 kicks off this weekend at Tynemouth, completing on the 3rd December. And Div 1 are set to play again on the 10th December, 28th January and the 3rd March, all at Tynemouth pool.

Future events to be hosted by Tees Tigers

Rachel Tonks — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:05:55 +0000

Here is a list of dates for your 2012 diaries! The slalom competition dates are still provisional until the calendar is confirmed at the BCU slalom committee ACM in late November.

11th, 12th & 13th February 2012 - Grand Tully slalom training weekend (sign up on the forum)
25th February 2012 – Div 4 pool slalom @ the Dolphin Centre, Darlington - for those new to slalom or wanting to try out a new class
Monday 9th April 2012 – Sim’s Memorial Race/BBQ and Div 4 slalom short course
19th & 20th May – Prem/Div 1 slalom race @ the Barrage
2nd & 3rd June 2012 – Div 2/3 slalom race and Div 4 short course @ Abbey Rapids
28th & 29th July 2012 – Tiger Fours (National polo competition @ the Basin)
13th & 14th October 2012 - Div 1/2 slalom race @ Abbey Rapids (it is hoped that this event will be moved to 1st & 2nd September)

Tiger in Hong Kong

Rachel Tonks — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:56:12 +0000

Early this year, one of the Tigers moved out to Hong Kong and quickly got involved with the Canoe Polo scene.

John Flitcroft took part in the 2011 Hong Kong Canoe Polo Open Championship last month. He helped his team to become the Hong Kong Champions and get a gold medal.

Great British Tigers

Rachel Tonks — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:38:55 +0000

Well done to the three Tigers who represented Great Britain in canoe polo this month at the European Champions in Madrid.

Both Matt Fletcher and Ross Martin played for the under-21 Men. And Chaz Cheung brought home a gold medal after the Ladies retained their European title.

You can read all the blogs from the supporters on the newly updated BCU Canoe Polo website at: http://www.canoepolo.org.uk/index.php/events/internationals/team-gb-news

London International - birthday celebrations, lootings and car break-ins!

Rachel Tonks — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:52:27 +0000

Over the weekend of the 13th and 14th August the Tiger A and B teams, plus their support teams, made the trek down to London to take part in the world renowned London International.

The B-team

The A-team

After the lootings of the previous days no sight of the troubles was evident until the Tigers turned up and had to break into Rhi’s car after the car keys were locked in the boot - great birthday present for Rhi! The AA had lots of volunteers to give him advice of what to do and to have a go. We had to persuade Tonksie to go get ready for his game after he announced he was having too much fun! Maybe a change of career or pastime is in order? Finally access was granted and Scott and Matt could wear their own canoe kit!
To the actual canoeing, and both teams had mixed performances but in the end the A team ended in 5th place (out of 10) in Div 1 and the B team 10th (out of 20) in Div 2. So a pretty average result for both teams!
There were lots of Tiger birthdays to celebrate over the, as always, excellent Meridian BBQ on the Saturday night so we were able to have the usual good team weekend away.

Veurne - Welcome to the new club hand…

Rachel Tonks — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 13:30:04 +0000

Team Tiger

After a long week of training down in big fancy London, Nicky and Matt met up with the other Tigers at GB Super Star “little willy’s” house for tea and biscuits, thanks Jane.

For many of the Tigers, the weekend was going to be their first opportunity to play in Class 1 against some of the best European club teams. It was good to get there early to shotgun a good spot on the campsite and for Tonksie to position the passion wagon (although was asked to move it twice due to improper conduct! I presume it was something along those lines, Belgian isn’t one of my first languages).

The tournament kicked off early Saturday morning and we had a rude awakening with a 5-0 defeat by one of the top Dutch teams. Early nerves played a big part and we sorted our tactics and got on much better prepared, so the following games were much closer. But still finished Saturday with 100% defeats, although some excellent performances (particularly pushing the tournaments 2nd overall team Veurne 3-3 all the way to the last couple of minutes). Sunday started much more positively winning 2 games and drawing another, the nerves were gone and everyone was getting stuck in! Our last game of the weekend was against a team that beat us on the Saturday, smashing them 9-4. Well done Tigers!

Oh yeah that hand thing, Matt had a gnat bite that he complained about all weekend and probably still is!

A dry and sunny Abbey Rapids race? Surely not!

Rachel Tonks — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:14:47 +0000

Another uneventful event for the Tigers, we wish!

The race proved to be a great success for many of our own team members, with a number of promotions over the weekend. Well done to you all and particularly to all the Div 4s for giving it a go (from the look on some of the Div4 C2 faces you wouldn’t think they were actually enjoying this!).

The campsite proved to work out really well again in the farmer’s field. Well us Tigers had a good time anyway, with the usual game of Rounders and songs around the campfire whilst watching the beautiful sunset behind the Abbey ruins. From stories I’ve heard not everyone was impressed with the early morning wake up by a loose sheep in the field though? And the weather for once proved good to us with a dry and sunny weekend, proving that Abbey really must be one of the most picturesque slalom settings.

Unfortunately, at the end of the weekend one of our spectators had a nasty fall down by the course. He is back home now recovering after a number of weeks in hospital but it was good to see how everyone rallied around to help in any way they could, particularly speeding up his transport to hospital by aiding the ambulance crew to carry him up the steep river bank.

So as usual thanks to everyone who helped out at the race. We look forward to seeing everyone again at the next Tigers event on the 3rd & 4th September back at Abbey Rapids for a Div 1/2 Slalom race weekend.

Canoe Polo National Championships 2011 - sun, rain and thunderstorms

Rachel Tonks — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:59:17 +0000

Again this year (and thankfully for the last time!) the Tigers hosted the Canoe Polo National Championships – THE event of the year.

After a lot of effort pre-event by the club (and friends) we were all at the centre bright and early on the Saturday morning to get the event started – one problem, no-one had woken Nicky, the event organiser, who after a very late night finalising the play list slept through his alarm. So after a slightly delayed start, added to by printer problems, the play list was up and the first games were away. The day ran well, with the usual good sales at the café and cake stall (everyone was maintaining/decimating their Cake-to-Training ratio!), and the new pitches on the north shore proved to be a great success for players and particularly spectators. Despite the spectacular mass exodus from the river during some very close thunderstorms the day seemed to run fairly well to time and all the cool kids made their way to the Tigers pub for the BBQ of the month! The food was excellent and the venue very sociable. Unfortunately this included a very long GB Men’s squad meeting which delayed the Head Chef’s early night and therefore the cooking of the sausages come the morning!

Sunday broke sunny, with no sign of yesterday’s thunderstorms, and the day ran well again. The eventual winners, winning some snazzy medals plus merchandise kindly donated by Peak, were:

Investment – Cleveland
Ladies – Meridian Ladies
Youth – FOA Youth
Open – Viking A

But well done to everyone, and thanks for supporting the event yet again.

The view from Control