Last weekend marked the inaugural race of the season for the Women’s Masters E IV crew of Jane Cryer, Charlotte Jones, Abby Symons and Caroline Collins at Edgbaston Reservoir.
Perfect conditions at the Birmingham Regatta helped a strong start and set a consistent race pace of 34 strokes per minute.
The crew delivered a strong row and closed a six-second headstart from the opposition, Bewdley, and lost just by a canvas. It was a solid start to their racing season.
Stratford’s WJ four putting on the pressure for the West Midlands at the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta.
The Women’s Masters E double of Ellie Davis and Gina Fusco were looking forward to the Birmingham Regatta, offering them an opportunity to practice a staked race start and side-by-side racing on a laned course. Their opposition, an experienced Women’s Masters D crew from Milton Keynes, had a five-second handicap applied.
The Stratford double had a good start and got into a strong rhythm, but were unable to hold off their seasoned opposition and lost by a canvas.
Meanwhile, Stratford Boat Club Masters women, Kjersti Rogneflaten Woolley spent the weekend in Scotland, representing Stratford Boat Club at the Scottish Rowing Spring Regatta, which took place at Strathclyde Park, the Scottish National Rowing Arena.
Stratford’s WJ four leading the way for the West Midlands.
On Saturday, Woolley raced in a Women’s Masters G2x composite crew with Eva from Loch Lomond Rowing Club. In very windy conditions, the duo struggled in the high tailwind but only just missed a bronze medal.
On Sunday, in better weather conditions, Woolley competed in Women’s Masters G4x composite crew of Eva from Loch Lomond and Karen and Clare from Castle Semple Rowing Club. The crew had a great race, winning gold.
Closer to home, the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta once again showcased remarkable talent across 129 clubs and 16 regions. Stratford’s J15 squad were pleased to have three crews representing the West Midlands and the conditions on the day were perfect for rowers and spectators alike.
First to head out for the 1,000m time trials, Connor Birrell in the Open J15 single scull event qualifying for the D final, placing 20th out of 32 rowers on the morning in a tightly timed field with seconds separating top and bottom places.
Next up was the WJ15 4+ composed of Martina Bruce, Meredith Paul, Bethany Hammond, Raya Hothi and Lillian Parsons (coxswain) and, once seats were in place, rowed well to qualify for the C final.
Abi Dunn, representing in the Women’s J15 single scull event, delivered a composed and consistent performance, persevering through a chesty cold to come ahead of other crews.
In the afternoon, Connor Birrell set out and drove hard along the full 1.5 km course to finish ahead of Thames London to take fourth place in the D final.
Stratford’s girls crew took an early start against the East Midlands and charged through to around the 1km mark with the race remaining a close-run event with Stratford battling to hold a lead with strong encouragement from their cox, eventually losing ground in the closing stages to cross the line in second place.
It was a fantastic start to their sweep experience. Dunn wrapped it all up by delivering a fifth out of six in the E final near the close of the day.
J15b coach Dave Parkin said: “There was some really strong competition out there today and the crews performed well against the competition, showing they are applying their training, maintaining their composure under race pressure and are set up for good results going forward!”