2001 London Great River Race Results

Dave Morris, Deutsche Bank Offshore's IT infrastructure manager, and his fellow team mates travelled to the UK last weekend to compete in the 2001 London Great River Race. This year's race attracted 250 crews from all over the UK, Ireland and Europe rowing traditional-style coxed boats, including Whalers, Cornish Gigs, Hawaiian Canoes and a Viking longboat. Also, in keeping with the historic tradition of the Company of Watermen & Lightermen who are responsible for the transport of passengers on the Thames, each boat must also carry a passenger.

The Deutsche Bank Offshore sponsored crew of Guy Hinks, Dave Morris, Paul Falloon, Simon Young, coxswain Paul Yates and passenger Tina Galluzzi started 65 minutes behind the first boat. Rowing at a steady pace they quickly started picking off the boats in front of them, increasing the rate only when needing to overtake before the usual bottlenecks occurred just before the many bridges along the Thames.

The last part of the race from Westminster to the finish is well known to the Deutsche Bank Offshore crew, having been part of last year's record breaking London to Paris row which started at Westminster Bridge. This landmark provided a well-needed lift to the team, who pressed on, pushing their way into the first 10 by the time they passed through Tower Bridge.

With the finish line drawing nearer, the Deutsche Bank Offshore crew were unable to relax as the twelve-man Dutch whaler 'Moby Dick' began to close in. A final push to the line saw the Deutsche Bank crew finish in 4th place overall in a very quick time of 2.15.47, placing them 2nd fastest overall. They also won the Syntegra City Challenge Trophy for the first London based institution boat.

A tired Dave Morris said 'It's a great result for us, it's the fastest we've ever done the race. All credit to our cox Paul Yates who managed to steer a superb course through all the other boats'.