Glorious weather for a weekend of rowing at Shrewsbury Regatta

Over the weekend an armada of RSSBC crews took to the water at the annual Shrewsbury Regatta.

On Saturday the majority of crews raced in eights and fours while on Sunday most of the crews were in smaller boats. The weather was glorious and there was a tremendous atmosphere among the spectators and supporters.

Twenty-two crews took to the water on Saturday with some closely contested races. Some of the highlights included the J16B eight taking on Kings Chesters J16A eight in the heat of their event. The crew produced a terrific race to win the race by three quarters of a length to earn a place in the final against our own J16A boat. The J15A and B crews also put in strong performances to earn a place in the J15 final against each other. The J15 A girls had a tremendous battle down the track with Kings Chester to narrowly miss out by three feet on the line. There were wins in the J16 coxed four, WJ17 coxed four, J15 VIII, J16 VIII and J18VIII’s events.

On Sunday thirty-two crews took to the water. There was some exciting racing over the short course past the front of the boathouse. It was fantastic to see Violet H (M, IV) producing a great set of races to win the WJ15 singles result in her first regatta in the single. There was a haul of sculling success with Katie W (QEH, IV) winning the WJ16 single and Tara L (M, LVI) winning the Women’s singles event. Katie and Tara then teamed up to win the Women’s Doubles event. Robbie L (S, V) took victory in the J16 Singles event while Jake D (SH, III) went back to back on Saturday and Sunday winning the J14 singles event.

The J15 boys won the J18 coxed four event. The J15’s from Grove and EDH paired up to face each other in the WJ15 cox fours event. The photo of them on the start line even made it onto the main BBC news home page under the title – ‘Town stages rowing regatta in ‘Perfect’ weather’. Grove took the win.

It was wonderful to get the Rec rowing boys and girls crews out on the water for their first ever regatta. Unfortunately, no medals but a great building experience for them after a challenging winter without much water time.

The Senior boys and girls paired up to form a number of mixed doubles. It was great to see the crews racing for the fun of it with lots of smiles and a few near shipwrecks for spectator entertainment. In the final race of the day Jeremy G (O, UVI) and Tash L (M, UVI) took the honours with a tremendous race past the vociferous support from the boathouse to win the mixed doubles event.

Athol Hundermark

Director of Rowing