Page 63 - Light Dragoons 2023 CREST

The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
Boxing
It has been a relatively quiet year for The Light Dragoons boxing team. Following on from the success of 2021, where the Light Dragoons once again won the RAC’s boxing championships, Hodson’s Horse, all was in place for another suc- cessful year. However, due to the nature of the Hodson’s Horse competition changing, the 2022 RAC boxing championship was postponed and will next go ahead in November 2023. The Light Dragoons will no doubt be looking to defend their title again.
Nonetheless, training has continued throughout the year and our Rocky Balboa style boxing gym has never looked better. The rub shelter continues to provide the perfect amphitheatre for upcoming prospects to earn their spurs in the ring. However, the big news of 2022, is due to the incredible gen- erosity of the Regiment’s trustees we have a new boxing ring. The new 20ft ring is state of the art and will undoubtably thrust the Light Dragoons boxing team into the higher echelons of Army boxing. With this upgrade in facilities, we have also seen a rise in the popularity of the sport within the Regiment, regularly having well over 20 people coming to the weekly Wednesday after- noon session.
The team continues to be headed up by a great team of coaches, led by the RSM, WO1 Richardson, including Cpl ‘Iron Mike’ Rutherford, Sgt Mallen, Sgt Cribbins, Sgt Astwood and the new addi- tion of LCpl Finnon. They all bring a wealth of expertise and are undoubtably the reason for the Regiment’s continued success over all these years.
In regard to the boxers themselves, all those who succeed in defending The Light Dragoons crown continue to train hard and set an example for the novices coming through. We also have a number of new very promising members of the boxing team, including Sgt Monaher and Tprs Fowlie, Horton and Dixon to name a few. Following the admirable performance of Lt Riall last year (who to everyone’s surprise avoided knocking him- self out), a number of new subalterns have also entered the ring. Lts Erskine, Hare and Griffiths all believe they will be the first officer to get a W on their record. Early performances suggest this may be unlikely.
Looking forward to 2023, it looks to be an incred- ibly exciting year for the Light Dragoons’ boxing team. First up, a 4X Brigade boxing night up in Edinburgh in July. This promises to be an epic occasion where the team will be up against dif- ferent Units in an incredible setting. Before then heading back down to Bovington in November to defend its RAC Boxing Champions title. If 2022 was a quiet year for Light Dragoons boxing, 2023 looks set to make up for that and some.
MR
Lt Col Charlie Mayo Day 2 Devizes to Westminster
Devizes and beyond
Itook up kayaking in Nov 2019 and after a break during the pandemic in 2020 I started to focus on attempting the Devizes to Westminster International Canoe race which is the Everest of marathon kayaking. 125 miles with 76 portages along the Kennet and Avon canal and the River Thames over the Easter weekend. I spent 6 months training to build up the strength and endur- ance to enable me to complete the race as a solo kayaker over 4 days achieving a time of 23hrs 50mins. In Sept 2022 I com- peted for the Army in the Inter- Services Marathon and Kayak Championships which we won.
Army Kayaking covers a range of sports from Canoe Polo, Whitewater, Freestyle, Sprint and Marathon and is looking for
more soldiers and officers to participate.
CM
(Above) Lt Col Charlie Mayo on completion of the Devizes to Westminster.
(Right) Lt Col Charlie Mayo with the Inter- services Sprint and Marathon Kayak Trophy.
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