Teesers 8+ takes to the water
Article written by Frida Alexandra Mondragon
From Left to Right: Sarah Harker, Caroline Young, Jenni Bainbridge, Frida Alexandra Mondragon, Francesca Owen-Brito (Club Vice Captain), Rachel Jenkins, Gillian Bentley, Katherine Lester, Katherine Lefevre.
On Saturday, May 9th 2026 (Durham City Regatta) the ‘Teesers’ crew made their racing debut! This is the women’s intermediate master’s group who you might often find chatting about in the club, perpetually smiling, and yes, often sporting suspicious amounts of pink.
This was our FIRST time racing as an eight in a regional event, and what an event it was! Full of energy, camaraderie, and rain (SO. MUCH. RAIN!).
Massive thanks to Sarah Harker and Kristi Eddy, our coaching dream team who’ve gone above and beyond to transform us from enthusiastic paddlers into an actual (now racing) crew. Without their patience (and occasional shouting), we’d still be catching crabs instead of catching speed (and gosh, were we fast)!
It’s taken us a few years to build this crew, but honestly? The wait was SO worth it. This race has awakened something fierce in us, turns out we’re competitive! (Shocking, we know… )
If you are wondering about the results… Subjectively: WE WERE FLYING! Objectively: We had an absolute nail-biting race with St Hild & St Bede’s College, going head-to-head until they pipped us by half a length in the final meters. Were we devastated? Maybe a little. Were we also secretly thrilled we nearly coughed up our lungs from the effort? Absolutely!
Next mission: learning to stay in control when the competitive fire ignites!
We would also like to give a massive shout to Dick and Janet: without your amazing support and encouragement every morning during the (sometimes brutal) dashes, nothing would have prepared us for this beautiful carnage.
Bring on the rest of the racing season, the Teesers are just getting started!
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: A TRC TEESERS TALE
- First time riding a bicycle: check (some scrapped knees)
- First time colouring our hair on impulse: check (possibly as teenagers…)
- First kiss: check (awkward moments, anyone?)
- FIRST TIME RACING IN AN EIGHT WITH AN AMAZING GROUP OF WOMEN??? CHECK, CHECK, CHECK
