St Neots Rowing Club at Peterborough Regatta, 4th & 5th June 2011.
Victory for St Neots Rowers
Louise Shorten & Laura Baird were victorious this weekend at Peterborough Regatta, as the St Neots Junior 13 crew won the J14 doubles event, a category above where they should have been racing.
Louise & Laura beat crews no less than 3 crews from Peterborough in a multi-lane race in far from ideal conditions, as high winds made the 500m course in Peterborough challenging to row in. Alongside the winning J13 double, 11 other crews from St Neots raced this weekend on both Saturday & Sunday.
Small boats were clearly the most successful for the juniors; Ethan Page & Nick Shorten raced on both days in the J15 double sculls category, winning their first heat on Saturday & coming third in the final. They went on to better this on Sunday, coming joint 2nd overall in the final of the event over 500m. Ethan Page also raced in a single scull, coming in a close 2nd in the J15 singles also.
Unfortunately, racing didn’t go so smoothly for the boys in the J15 Quad, the crew of Adam Williams, James Moir, Nick Shorten, Ethan Page coxed by Louise Shorten coming 4th in their event. Sam Winter & Kyle Morrison also raced on Sunday in a double scull in a race was against much older competition, the boys having to race in the senior IM3 category. They did well to put in a solid performance against such stiff competition, finishing 4th in their final.
For the seniors, high winds proved a real problem for all crews with a strong head wind making every race an effort. The Men’s IM3 4+ of Kevin Sadler, Alistair Mackie, Alex Davies & Mick Staddon raced both days of the event. After a disastrous race on the Saturday, The crew reformed in a new combination & took on the competition afresh on Sunday. New boat positions seemed to put them in good stead: in the first heat, the crew cruised to the finish, however, were beaten in the final. Mick Staddon & Alistair Mackie also competed in single sculls on the Sunday. Minutes after racing in the four, Staddon was in a single racing again, finishing 4th in the Men’s final of IM3 sculls. After placing in the first heat, Mackie won the repechage of his event, but was also beaten in the final.
St Neots ladies were represented by 3 crews on Sunday, two fours racing in the IM34+ and Master’s C 4+ categories respectively and putting in strong performances. In the Master’s C event, Sarah Porteus coxed Sarah Davies, Lynne Taylor, Vanessa Ponter & Dionne Page, however they lost in the face of strong competition. The other crew of Alison Brown, Sam Lawrence, Natasha Wilson & Mia Hartwell managed to beat opposition from Peterborough in their heat to make it through to the final. With Jemma Philips sitting cool & calm in the cox seat, the four went on to come 2nd in the final, beaten only by a crew from Newark. The day then ended on both ladies fours combining to form an eight, practising together just once 40 minutes before the race. Despite being a scratch crew, the ladies had a good race, keeping the pace up in their final, coming 4th, returning home happy after a long weekend of racing. St Neots are now looking forward to racing next weekend at the British Masters Event in Nottingham.
Photo included is of victorious J13 double Laura Baird (left) & Louise Shorten (right) holding their prizes aloft.
