On Saturday 14 May a select few pupils from the Boat Club made the trip to Nottingham, to race at the Notts City Regatta. Despite the weather earlier in the week causing worries that the conditions would not be suitable for racing, Saturday dawned calm and clear, and the conditions were absolutely ideal for what transpired to be a successful day for the Shiplake crews. Thank you to Director of Rowing Mr David Currie for providing the following report:
‘Great conditions and a strong tailwind helped achieve some quick times over the Regatta. First to race were the girls JW18 4 in a four boat straight final; the girls put up a strong fight for the first half of the race, then saw two crews breaking clear of the field. They finished in fourth place, beating Newark Rowing Club by 8 seconds! The same girls later race in JW18 Coxed 4s; the race panned out very similarly to the coxless fours. They were in the fight up to the halfway point, then the field slipped away from them and they ended up finishing in fourth place.
Rowing scholar Lucy Walker raced in the WJ18 1X. She had a good showing at the Wallingford Regatta two weeks prior to this by making the final, so she was very keen to see what she could do in Nottingham! In her heat she had a very close race between third and fourth place, but managed to push her bows in front and finished third, securing a place in the final. In the final, Lucy showed her true determination. She started steadily and found herself in fifth place at 1000m gone. Digging into energy reserves, Lucy pushed herself for the final stretch of the race, finishing in a very creditable third place. This was an extremely gutsy row and she should be really proud of herself.
James Love raced in the Novice singles. He won his heat by one length, after being rowed through to a length down, then putting in an outstanding effort in the last 200m to overturn the deficit. In the final, James took a commanding lead and never looked in doubt that he would lose this. He managed to win the Novice singles by one length; congratulations to James for winning his Novice pot! This is one race that no oarsmen will ever forget.’
