About 120 crews will be flexing their muscles on the Ouse in York on Saturday at the annual Yorkshire Head of the River Races.

York City Rowing Club will be defending their Eights title against strong opposition from Royal Chester and Durham Amateurs over a 5K course between Rawcliffe Landing and Lendal Bridge.

There will be about 600 rowers at the races and because of the size of the entry, racing is split into two divisions with the first division starting at 11.45pm and the second at 2.45pm.

Crews are started at 10 second intervals and race against the clock and as the course includes some testing bends, the skills of the coxes are stretched to the limit as they struggle to obtain the fastest line for their crew.

There are 30 events to be won in Eights, Fours, Pairs and Sculls with the fastest crews completing the race in about 16 minutes.

St Peter's School, York, will be defending a clutch of titles and the oldest competitor is 66-year-old Dick Gradely, a York City RC sculler.

The races are organised by Yorkshire and Humberside Rowing Council and use York City RC's boathouse on West Esplanade as the competition headquarters.

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