One of Lincoln's crews, entered for the Boston Marathon, nearly had to scratch due to unexpected illness that morning. Fortunately, Boston rower Adrian Apletree kindly volunteered to take part. Adrian was assisting crews to put boats on the water one minute; the next he was taking part, cheered on by his colleagues from Boston!  Adrian received a rapturous reception on arrival at Boston, which was truly deserved!

In the boat were Lou at stroke, Heather, Adrian Apletree and John at bow.

On Saturday 18^th July 2009, Lincoln Rowing Centre ran the second Lincolnshire Shield Regatta to take place on the Brayford Pool, co-ordinated with the Lincoln Sea Cadets who organised several other water-based activities on the same day. Ancholme Rowing Club (based in Brigg) brought members down to pit their athleticism & skills against an equally talented bunch from Lincoln, racing double sculls (2 people with 2 oars each) from the barge restaurant to the old Harbourmaster's Building. A real splash and dash of about 200m, taking less than a minute for all crews (except the one which capsized, though impressively they did get back in and finish).

A perfect atmosphere of friendly rivalry persisted throughout the whole day as men, women and mixed crews competed in novice, open and veteran categories. For some it was their very first race. There were many very close finishes and the regatta ended on a dead heat, resulting in joint winners and the Shield being shared.

Alongside the rowing Ancholme & Lincoln both entered teams into the equally traditional pulling event that Lincoln Sea Cadets compete in using big heavy boats & oars.

Nervousness was high, but the Cadets took pity on the rowers and only entered their youngsters; the delight shown by fully grown rowers beating a team of 13 & 14 year old cadets reflected the competitive nature of the event, whilst the rowers maintain that the Cadets drew their water pistols first!

Following the days water-based activities members of Lincoln Rowing and guests made their way to the boat store below Stamp End lock for an evening barbeque, to open officially the facility and to name a number of boats that are new to the club.

Through funding by Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership and with the support of Investors in Lincoln, the old pump house on the north bank of the river is being transformed into a well-used and valuable facility for the development of rowing in and around the City of Lincoln. The biggest change is the installation of staging with direct access into the building. This has allowed us to launch directly, rather than crews having to take their lives in their hands as boats were carried across the steep blind crossing that is Titanic Bridge; a particular hazard at dusk & dawn. The creation of a veranda across the decaying concrete piers has also helped to turn an eyesore into a pleasant location both for observers and users of the facility. Geoff Nicholls, the chairman of East Midlands Rowing, did the honours and officially proclaimed these developments open.

He continued his duties by naming four boats that have been acquired by Lincoln Rowing Centre over the past year by washing their bows with champagne; the boats tend to break before the bottle if the smashing technique tried!

Two double sculls were bought using funds raised by the club at its dinner & Head of the River Race (a 3km time trial for approximately 120 boats) and matched by the Sports Lottery.

An eight that was on the point of decay was rescued from Nottingham and refurbished with the help of Serco.

A coxless 4 was donated by the dormant Gainsborough Rowing Club; it is hoped that this club may find a new home and return to an active status to develop further the sport of rowing in Lincolnshire.

With funding from Grassroots, 5 members have completed UKCC Level 2 coaching qualifications and we now have a solid number of juniors developing very well.

Further grants from the Rowing Foundation and City Council will help to continue this development into the coming year; if we can achieve as much in the next 12 months as the last year another day of celebration will be richly deserved!