Club's 21-mile river race in crew member's memory

Two rowing teams will be taking part in the Great River Race in memory of a club member who died earlier this year.

The teams from Trentham Canoe Club in Stoke-on-Trent will compete against 300 others in the 21.6-mile (34.7km) event along the River Thames in London on Saturday, although they said they had only previously managed six miles (9.6km).

Among the Trentham rowers will be Dave Whiston, whose wife Lynda died from cancer in January.

"I did it 10 years ago with Lynda and we talked about doing it again but, sadly, last year she wasn't well enough to participate," he told BBC Radio Stoke. The club will raise money for hospice charity Dougie Mac, which supported Mrs Whiston.

"We decided this year, as Lynda passed away, that we'd better do it because she'd only moan at us if we didn't. She'll be with us in spirit."

"She was just so strong and so passionate," fellow rower Jill Seabridge-Chadwick said of Mrs Whiston. "She just drove us forward."

The race will see The Powered by Biscuits and Powered by Oatcakes teams travel along the river from Millwall in the east of the capital to Richmond in the west.

Mrs Seabridge-Chadwick said they have so far managed six miles around Trentham Lake, where they train, before they had to "go in for biscuits".

"So I don't know how we're going to get on with 21.6 miles with a tide," she added. "We'll give it a go, we'll do our best.

Asked about how the activity had helped him in the months since his wife's death, Mr Whiston said the team were very supportive.

"There're no airs and graces, it's really down to earth," he said. "For me, it's been brilliant. It's given me a reason to come out of the house."

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