Another Sunny Day in Teesside!
Report by Frida Mondragon
“Stephen Heath must have done a deal with the devil to get this kind of weather AGAIN at the Tees Regatta this year…”
This was not the only funny statement I heard about the magnificent conditions we experienced on Saturday the 16th May 2026 at Tees Rowing Club for our Annual Regatta; but it certainly takes the prize to the most memorable.
Under Steve Heath’s Leadership and with the Captaincy of Kristi Eddy, this year’s Regatta drew 33 clubs from the four corners of England. We had the pleasure to host teams from as far as Berwick in the north, Lakeland (Keswick) in the west and Lincoln in the south, and of course all our regional regulars!
Here’s something worth pausing on; because not everyone knows it, and (perhaps) everyone should: Tees Rowing Club’s 850-metre, 4-lane, fully buoyed course is the only one of its kind between Nottingham and Glasgow; which for roughly 25 years, it has been celebrated as one of the finest in the North; and in case you were wondering, it doesn’t set itself up by magic (despite what the weather might suggest)…
A heartfelt and enormous thank you goes to Julian Bunn and his tireless team, whose Herculean efforts to set-up and dismantle the course year after year are the quiet backbone of this whole operation.
Some Numbers
The first Tees Regatta was held in 1865 a modest affair of just (checks records again) 9 races!
Fast forward to 2026, and the numbers tell quite a different story: this time around we had 470 entries (minus drop outs and some scratches on the day), resulting in about 440 boats, 130 races, and an excess of 1000 ‘seats’.
If people on average raced twice… that’s over 500 competitors through the day.
From the first race at 8:30am to the last at 6:20pm; and despite a handful of capsizes along the way, the event never slipped more than 20 minutes off schedule.
What a feat, right?
That, dear reader, is not luck. That is craft.
I’m sure Steve was very proud showing off to Anne Marie Coulton (his Regatta mentor from a while ago) who was present this year, as well as John Green, the success that also their efforts over time have resulted on!
This Regatta was not merely a sporting occasion, it was a celebration of community in the fullest, most joyful sense of the word.
Among the spectators and guests, Stockton’s Mayor and Stockton North MP were welcomed to the riverside, greeted by a wonderfully multi-generational party of rowers: from our 15-year-old girls (Juniors) making their mark, to our 80-year-old boys (not Juniors anymore) sharing some insights.
The atmosphere? Warm. Buzzing. Alive. And brilliantly narrated throughout the day by the irrepressible commentary duo of Paul Buckworth and Kate O’Sullivan, who kept the energy high and the crowd informed from first stroke to last.
The People Behind the Magic
Events like this don’t happen by accident. They happen because of people; dedicated, passionate, occasionally sleep-deprived people, who believe that something worth doing is worth doing brilliantly.
A special acknowledgement to the leadership team whose vision and graft made it all possible: Steve Heath, Kristi Eddy, Iona Macleod, Julian Bunn, Jane Atkinson, and Dilwyn Jones; you were the engine room of this event.
With Gratitude: Because None of This Happens Alone
It truly takes a village, or in this case, a river’s worth of generous partners and supporters:
- Canal and River Trust, for restricting access to their waters so we can run the event and for support with timber clearance
- Stockton on Tees Council for access to the Riverside Carpark and layby, providing gazeboes, portaloos and bins, QA of Safety Plans
- Tees River Rescue,
- Tees River Users Trust for unfettered access to the Watersport Centre and all its equipment, and opening the bar when most needed
- Powerhouse Dragon Boaters, Tees Active, Yarm School and Infinity Boat Club for providing launches also IBC for providing a driver and The Dragonboats for allowing us exclusive use of the Centre/River on Regatta Day
- Stockton Scouts Event Support Team for PA and parking control
- St John’s Ambulance for First Aid
- Northern Regional Rowing for umpiring, draw/results system, safety advice and hire of radios and megaphones
- British Rowing for the entry system (BROE) and the overall racing and safety frameworks
- Northshore One, Fusion Hive and Durham University for providing parking areas.
- Our neighbours for tolerating a busy event next to their property
- All the clubs who entered, especially their coaches and trailer drivers
- And above all, to our volunteers: Tees members, family, friends, regional and visiting umpires. You ARE the event.
This list alone only begins to capture how much must come together to make a day like this possible. If your name has slipped through the cracks, please know the oversight is in the fingers, never in the heart!
So, can we be more proud to be part of Tees Rowing Club?
We dare you to try.
See you again next year and, GO TEES!
Frida Alexandra Mondragon
-No exclamation mark was injured during the making of this report, if you know me, you will be aware I permanently speak in loud and smiley capitals and exclamation marks! 😊
