We did it! After a number of years of Thameside races not going ahead because of covid and fast river flow, 2025 allowed us to host both Thameside 1 on 2nd March and then a fortnight later Thameside 2.
Thameside 1 saw 144 paddlers entering in 85 boats this year. Participants and supporters enjoyed a glorious day of sunshine and near perfect paddling conditions from Aldermaston Wharf back to Reading, with hot dogs in the sunshine as a reward. It was a great day for Reading to showcase what we do best; not just hosting great race days but also putting our best paddles forward on the racing front with lots of our club members out on the water.
A few of our Juniors made podium places and all deserve a shout out:
Ruth Shephard came 1st place with her Weybridge partner in the Junior Ladies K2 class.
Oli Mazur and Freddie Heard (Exeter) came 2nd in Junior Men’s K2 class, and Marcel Nagy came 2nd in Junior Men’s K1.
Well done to everyone who took part!
Thameside 2 was busier still with 188 participants joining us for the race from Reading down to a new finish point at Bisham Abbey. It was a bit of a chilly day but the rain held off. River conditions made some of the getting-in points a bit choppy, resulting in a number of swimmers, but the majority of the paddlers made it down to the finish point to enjoy a warming cup of soup and hot cross bun.
Again lots of Reading paddlers had their race face on, so big congratulations to everyone who raced and especially our Juniors who, as always, did us proud again with the following podium finishers:
Marcel Nagy took 1st place in Junior Men K1 with Tymur Rudnyev close behind him in 2nd place. In fact, Reading made up 75% of this category with Beni Nagy also in the running and narrowly missing out on making it a Reading hat trick.
Oli Mazur and Freddie Heard (Exeter) came 2nd in Junior Men’s K2, Charlotte Fulford-Perez took 1st place for Junior Ladies K1, and Annabel Hutchinson and Frankie Scrivener (Falcon) took 1st place for Junior Ladies K2.
A great success for the club with lots of positive feedback received from across the paddling community, including some (self appointed) Vikings who came all the way from Norway to paddle on the Thames with us! The only thing left to say is a great big thank you to all of the volunteers who helped out over the course of the 2 days – we couldn’t do it without you!