A GREAT day of rowing was held on the Dyfi estuary on Saturday when Aberdyfi Rowing Club was host to the Welsh Coastal Rowing Championships, writes Doris O'Keefe.

Aberdyfi sculling captain and race director of the day, Dai Rice, said: “Aberdyfi Rowing Club was thrilled to be selected to host the 2024 Welsh Coastal Sculling Championships- an event open to rowers from all over the UK.”

“This is a major event for our club and it was great that so many rowers from other clubs had made the effort to come to Aberdyfi to take part and discover the wonderful venue we have here.

“Despite the pessimistic weather forecast the day didn’t disappoint in the end, and we were able to go ahead with the planned scheduled races.

“We had races in three different classes of boats – singles, doubles and quads , with an under 19 category, an Open( 20-40 years)and Masters category of  40+,50+ and 60+.

“Conditions on the water were very varied from being fairly calm in the morning to the wind picking up and the tide changing later on making conditions pretty rough and challenging for everyone. But that can be what rowing is all about.

“It’s been a fantastic day and we have had some terrific feedback from other clubs about the whole day.

“Thank you to everyone who came to take part and many thanks of course to all our amazing volunteers and everyone who helped to make the day so enjoyable and successful.

“A huge thanks must go also to the Dovey Yacht club for providing the perfect venue and also the safety boats.

“A.R.C. put in some really good performances after, for some,  a short introduction to sculling.

“We were thrilled that Aberdyfi’s Tim Chesworth and Cath Havard took first place in the Mixed Open category (20-40years).

“It was a truly great day and Aberdyfi in now well and truly on the coastal sculling map.”