Hello everyone
The club raced at Peterborough Spring Regatta this weekend and although there were no wins we had some excellent times and results with really close, tough racing. There were athletes racing from many Universities as well as some of the big clubs in the region plus many from the British Rowing World Class Start U23 Program. There was also a strong head wind on Saturday which made a 1000m feel like a very long way and torrential rain all day on Sunday when the main challenge was to stay warm and dry(ish). Thanks to Rob and Alison for all their photos and videos of the racing.
Full results can be found here
Saturday
Only 8 of us raced in 5 crews so a busy day of rigging and boat/gazebo faff kindly supported by Alison with videos/shoe carrying plus the BR World Class Start athletes who gave back support to grassroots rowing by getting our boats off the top of the trailer!!
Morning
Open J18 2x Sam Freya
This was Sam's first regatta race and good experience for them both with Freya steering the boat. As a Mixed crew racing in an Open Category they did extremely well against the men's crews beating some of the Open 2x Band 2 and 3 times.
W 1x Band 2
Izzy raced well and was pleased to get into the A final - as a Lightweight sculler racing against much bigger opponents and into a head wind this was a great achievement and bodes well for her Lightweight 1x race at Henley Women's Regatta in 2 weeks time.
W4x Band 2 Juliet Alexandra Lucy Karen
As a scratch crew (although a very powerful one) we were surprised to make the A Final, improving on our time from the Time Trial by 12 seconds!
Afternoon
WJ18 2x Freya Alexandra
With Alexandra steering this year and Freya in the stroke seat, although not making the A Final, the girls were pleased that they had a better race and improved on their result from last year plus beating most of the W2x Band 2 times.
W4+ Band 2 Cox Kim Karen Juliet Eloise Izzy
Racing in the afternoon we had a hard fought race in the Time Trial which placed us 5th out of 8 crews by only 3 seconds from Globe who went on to take second place in the A Final.
Sunday
Many more of us were racing and good to see a few of our Dev Squad in their first Regatta.
Morning
W8+ Cox Kim Karen Paula Juliet Hayley Alexandra Freya Lucy Izzy
We had an early start and sat for a long time in torrential rain at the start waiting for Peterborough to begin the Regatta on Sunday morning with 8 other eights. . We were wet and cold but raced well in the Time Trial to get a place in the A Final. with only 0.5 seconds between 3rd and 5th place showing just how close the racing was. In the A Final we had another really close race and came from behind in the last 100m to take 2nd place from University of York with City of Cambridge winning overall. Two really tough races which show the huge potential in this young and powerful crew (apart from their stern pair of course!).
MasB 1x
Ian was pleased to be racing again in his 1x and came 3rd in the Time Trial gaining a place in the A Final.
MasF 1x
This was Steve's first race in a 1x and good practice for events later in the season.
Afternoon
W2x Band 2 Izzy Alexandra
W2x Band 2 Freya Hayley
After the two hard races in the eight in the morning the girls then had their Time Trails in the 2x with Izzy and Alexandra gaining a place in the B final. Well done to both crews who were up against some very experienced competition.
W4+ Band 1 Cox Kim Karen Paula Lucy Juliet
Racing in Band 1 against some very tall girls in plaits proved a step too far for the 4+ but we did gain a place in the B Final and then improved our time to come 8th out of 10 overall.
MasE 4+ Cox Ross Steve Johnny Tim Reynaldo
It was good to see Ross coxing this crew who have shown great commitment to improving and developing hugely in a brief time together. A first regatta race for Reynaldo and Tim but unfortunately the crew had a handicap against them as they raced F and G crews so did not get to experience the excitement of a side by side start and racing. But good experience for them all and if they maintain this training and improvement show great promise in the future.
Open 4x Band 2 Sam Alan Pradeep Ian
Again, great commitment to training with Sam at stroke and Ian steering well meant that this crew looked long, powerful and good together. Well done to Pradeep and Sam in their first regatta now with experience of racing starts and side by side racing. The crew raced against strong opposition and hopefully will build on this for the rest of the season.
Our next whole club regatta will be at St Neots on 23rd/24th July. Please check the suggested crews sent by Jo recently and let me or Squad Captains know about any additions or changes.
Our next event for Masters Crews will be a national event next weekend at British Masters Championships with HelenM racing in her 1x on Saturday and two Womens 4+ plus a Womens 8+ on Sunday.
Karen