Hello allWell done again to everyone who raced - I've never put so many wins in one email! It was also great to see so many of our most recent LTR graduates out racing, just 4 months after they started.
Saturday
Winner: MasE 1x: Steve L. 1/4 in heat, 4:06.0; 1/4 in final, 4:06.3
Steve's win was undoubtedly the most exciting of the day. Sitting in third place with just 100m to go, he put on a superb final push to win by a fraction of a second. Brilliant stuff.
Winners: WMasC 8+: Heidi, Lou, Karen, Paula, Tara, Clare, Helen S, Cath, cox: Chris. 1/3 in final, 3:41.5
A good solid row for the women's masters squad gave us our first win of the day, holding off Putney Town and Peterborough to win by about 3/4 of a length.
Winners: WMasE 4+: Karen, Paula, Helen S, Suzanne, cox: Alice. 1/3 in final, NTT
An excellent row by the ladies' E 4+ saw them demolish their opposition in fine style.
Winner: WMasC 1x: Helen M. 1/4 in final, 4:18.5
Helen once again proved that when it comes to sculling, there are few that can equal her.
Winners: MasE 2-: Rod, Steve L. 1/3 in final, 3:51.3
A comfortable win for Rod and Steve who seem to be hitting their stride.
Winners: WMasC 4+: Heidi, Lou, Karen, Cath, cox: Becky. 1/3 in final, 3:57.5
Another win for our ladies masters, but it wasn't made easy for them with Peterborough pushing them all the way. They eventually won by about 3/4 of a length.
MasA 1x: Ian. 2/2 in heat, 5:06.1; 4/4 in final, 5:21.4
A row over in the heat (two of his opposition scratched) took Ian through, but he couldn't quite build on his good fortune in the final.
MasE 1x: Rod. 2/4 in heat, 4:11.4; 1/3 in repechage, 4:18.5; 4/4 in final, 4:13.7
Were it not for being in the same race as Steve, we'd have said this was a brilliant result! Second in his heat and then winning the repechage, Rod was only a couple of seconds off first place in the final.
MasE 1x: Mike A
Still with a few back problems, Mike had a really good start but had to stop halfway through to avoid injury. A bit of rest though and he was back out the day after.
W 2x (Tier 3): Jen, Becky. 3/3 in heat, 5:01.7
Despite a good row, Jen and Becky weren't quite as close to the action as they wanted to be. They took it in their stride though and had a much closer race on Sunday.
W 4x (Tier 3): Jessica, Jodie, Jen, Becky. 3/3 in heat, 4:55.6
The first proper race for Jessica and Jodie, there were ably backed up by Jen and Becky. They should be happy with this result given half the crew couldn't row 4 months ago ;-) To even be entered at a full regatta is impressive!
Op 4+ (Tier 3): Shaun, Richard, John S, David, cox: Callum. 2/4 in heat, 3:41.6; 3/4 in final, 3:43.4
A good row to get through to the final, and an even better to go from 4th fastest qualifier to 3rd place.
Op 4+ (Tier 3): Charlie, Aidan, Mike P, Leo, cox: Steve B. 4/4 in heat, 3:57.6
A first race for Aidan, but he took it all in his stride. Just like for the ladies quad, to even be racing just 4 months after starting learning is impressive.
Op 2- (Tier 2): Tim G, Benn. 2/4 in heat, 3:48.5; 3/4 in final, 3:48.7
Their first regatta race together in several years, but it looks like they still have it! They also win the prize for the most consistent times.
MasC 2x: Steve B, Ian. 4/4 in final, 4:32.1
A good row that should give them a lot of confidence going to Bled in a few weeks' time.
Sunday
Winners: WMasC 2x: Jenny, Helen M. 1/4 in heat, 1:54.9; 1/4 in final, 1:51.1
Good, fast rows in the heat and final saw Jenny and Helen continue their build up to World Masters with another excellent victory.v
Winners: W 4+ (Tier 1): Heidi, Lou, Karen, Paula, cox: Becky. 1/3 in final, 1:52.5
Being moved to the top open category and racing against girls the same age as their children didn't deter this experienced crew, who had a brilliant, tough row to beat Auriol Kensington by just 0.7 seconds.
Op 1x (Tier 4): John S. 4/4 in heat, 2:05.7
A decent row, and I know John is really looking forward to some circuit training over winter to help him get his fitness back and help his racing.
W 2x (Tier 3): Heidi, Cath. 3/4 in heat, 2:16.9
Determined to prove that anyone can scull, Heidi and Cath decided to enter a double. Not only did they cross the line (relatively) dry, they even managed to do so ahead of another crew.
W 2x (Tier 3): Jen, Becky. 3/4 in heat, 2:18.3
Jen and Becky now have a few races under their belts, and the experience is starting to show as they came in 3rd in their heat and were within a length of 2nd.
MasA 1x: Ian. 3/3 in heat, 2:32.5
Ian's confidence is visibly starting to build, and with some more fitness and strength training I think he'll really start to see some faster times as well.
MasE 1x: Mike A. 4/4 in heat, 2:22.3
Still suffering a little with his back injury, Mike nevertheless decided to race and keep gaining valuable race experience for the future.
W 4+ (Tier 2): Clare, Kate, Carolyn, Katharine, cox: Alice. 4/4, 2:09.1
It's still early days for the 'ck' crew, but it seemed like they enjoyed it and are keen to keep improving.
W 4x (Tier 2): Jessica, Jodie, Mags, Becky. 4/4, 2:22.8
This time it was Mags' first chance to race, and the rest of the crew should be even happier with this result than yesterday given that three quarters of them couldn't row 4 months ago! The journey to being a competitive rower can be a long one, but they've already taken a giant leap along it.
Op 4+ (Tier 2): Richard, Aidan, Chao, Leo, cox: Steve B. 4/4 in heat, NTT
These guys were really unfortunate to be in lane 1 and miss a stroke or two off the start, causing them to hit the bank and effectively have to start again. Once they did though they started to eat into the other crews. Being only a length off 3rd at the end despite a restart is very impressive!
Op 4+ (Tier 2): Shaun, Marcus, John S, David, cox: Callum. 3/4 in heat, 1:45.5
Not quite as clean as the day before, the crew took the sprint in 500m sprint very literally. They finished a creditable third, but will be aiming for much more next time.
Mx 4x: Rod, Cherry, Clare, Steve L. 1/4 in heat, 1:45.2; 3/4 in final, 1:49.2
A great row in the heat saw them through to the final, where unfortunately being a masters crew in an open event started to show. Still a very successful event for the crew overall, and it was great for them to have so much competition.
W 8+ (Tier 1): Heidi, Lou, Karen, Cath, Paula, Kate, Katharine, Suzanne, cox: Chris. 2/4 in final, 1:44.4
A decent start saw the ladies roughly level with two of the other crews and then slowly draw ahead of them. Sadly the other crew from Peterborough shot off the start, and despite some great pushes our ladies couldn't quite catch them. This was a masters crew racing in the top tier ladies 8s race though, so this is still a great result that they should be proud of.
Thanks
Chris