TEN rowing crews from York City Rowing Club and one from the University of York will compete against Olympic and international rowers at the Fuller’s Head Of The River Fours in London on Saturday.

The race takes place on the River Thames in west London and the York rowers will be among 2,400 competitors who will take to the water in 550 boats for one of the largest rowing events in the world.

The race takes the form of a time trial. Crews are set off ten seconds apart and timed over the 7km stretch of the Thames between Chiswick and Putney Bridge – the famous Oxford v Cambridge boat race course in reverse.

If they win their category they will earn a much-coveted place at the prize-giving in Fuller’s Griffin Brewery next month.

It can take each crew anywhere between 17 and 30 minutes to get down the course, depending on the weather conditions.

The 2009 race boasts an impressive field of international level rowers, including most members of the 2009 Great Britain senior and under-23 rowing squads, who will be racing for their home clubs, plus a number of foreign internationals and Olympians.

Crews will race in 21 different categories, from junior women’s quads to elite lightweight quad sculls.

As well as attracting many international level rowers, the race also caters for thousands of school, university and club level rowers from across the UK and Europe, with athletes also travelling from the Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, New Zealand, Croatia, Germany and Slovenia.

The York-based crews taking part are: York City I, intermediate 1 quad; York City II, junior quad; York City III, junior quad; York City IV, intermediate 1 coxless four; York City V, women’s intermediate 1 quad; York City VI, women’s intermediate 1 quad; York City VII, intermediate 2 coxed four (club); York City VIII, women’s junior quad; York City IX, women’s intermediate 2 coxed four (club); York City X, women’s intermediate 2 coxed four (club); University of York, intermediate 2 coxed four (academic).