Sponsored Row for Carolyn

Rob / 09.08.2002

Members of Wallingford Rowing Club are to hold a sponsored row in aid of the Carolyn Jones Trust on September 21/22nd.

Carolyn will be in need of constant medical care for some time to come after a serious canyoning accident at last year’s World Championships, and the trust was set up to help meet the costs of her care and pay rescue bills which her insurance company wouldn’t meet. It’s been supported by the AR community in various ways and by Carolyn’s friends in other sports. Earlier this year the ‘Slipstreamers’ rode from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise money and there have been collections and raffles at many races.

Carolyn’s first sport was rowing at which she had great success, winning British National Championship gold and silver medals in single sculls, the lightweight doubles at Henley Regatta and then representing Great Britain at the lightweight quadruple sculls. Now her club are planning to row from Oxford (Folly Bridge) to London (Putney), covering a distance of 170km and negotiating 32 locks in one weekend to help her.

Organiser Pascale Medioni said, “We hope to successfully take an eight and a quadruple scull all the way, and through all the locks, using a team of around 20 rowers/scullers of mixed ability, representing the whole club. Each participant will row for a total of between 9 and 12 hours in shifts of up to 3 hours over the period of the weekend. We expect the whole row to take between 18 and 24 hours depending on conditions and we’ll only be on the water in daylight for safety reasons. The start will be from Oxford early on Saturday morning and we should finish at Putney on Sunday afternoon.”

Full details of the event, and a downloadable sponsorship form are on part of the club’s web site. If you want to make a pledge you can e-mail here.

The Trust is run by Steven Seaton and if you want to get in touch directly to make a donation or organise a fundraiser please contact: The Carolyn Jones Trust, c/o Runner\'s World, 7-10 Chandos Street, London, W1G 9AD. (Cheques payable to \'Carolyn Jones Trust\'.)