St Neots Juniors bring home four medals

St Neots Juniors were remarkably successful in representing Eastern England at the National Junior Inter-Regional Rowing Finals at Nottingham on Saturday 27 April. The club’s juniors contributed five crews, winning two Gold medals, two Silver, and a forth place, establishing the junior section as one of the strongest around.

Louise Shorten and Lauren Parren competed in their WJ15 2x, Voirrey Taylor and Zoe Adamson in their WJ14 2x, Louise in her WJ15 1x, and Zoe in her WJ14 1x. Josh Davies and Fergus Mitchell competed in their J16 2x. All the crews sailed through the qualifying heats, making their finals.

Louise was given a really tight turnaround time between her 1x and her 2x with Lauren, so really applied all her efforts in the 2x, and came a very respectable 4th in the WJ15 1x category final. Louise and Lauren raced their 2x in a highly competitive final, lying in 4th position 500m from the finish, then 3rd until 100m out, then pipped the other two boats virtually on the line to win the Gold medal. It was one of the most exciting finishes of the day, and many paid tribute to the girls on their finishing.

Zoe made a really good effort in her 1x and fought all the way to the end gaining the Silver medal in the final, then joined Voirrey in the 2x to give a masterclass in the final, pulling away from other crews with ease, and winning the Gold medal. Their time in the qualifying heat was also exceptional and drew many comments.

Josh and Fergus in their J16 2x continue to harass the Marlow boat which is very dominant in this category. At GB trials they came very close to this crew, and in the final they got even closer, pushing Marlow all the way to the end, but losing by just under 2 seconds. It was very pleasing to see the frustration on the faces of the Marlow crew at their inability to create clear water between them, and probably had the race been 500m longer, the St Neots lads would have overtaken them.

Junior Coach Andy Taylor said:

St Neots Juniors entered five of the 24 race categories, gaining around 25% of the points that Eastern England got in total. Voirrey and Zoe have given us a new race tactic called New Race which I intend to apply to the other junior crews, so thanks girls. And we’ll make sure that Josh and Fergus race against the Marlow boys very soon as I’m confident they will beat them.

It was a very good day indeed!”

100km sponsored row to support Red Nose Day

A group of 23 rowers from St Neots Rowing Club took part in a 100km indoor rowing event to support Red Nose Day.

The 17 juniors and 6 senior men took one minute stints on two indoor rowing machines to notch up a total of 100 kms in just under 3 hours. Each minute was rowed with as much effort and speed as each rower could muster before jumping off the machine for the next person to seamlessly take over. With huge amounts of encouragement shared between the rowers and plenty of cake to keep them fuelled, they were all absolutely exhausted at the end of the three hours. But between them they have raised approximately £800 which will be split equally between St Neots Rowing Club and the Red Nose charity.

Club Captain Alistair Mackie, who was one of those taking part, said:

It was a very noisy three hours, but well worth every minute of it, I think! Every one of those taking part worked really hard and we finished the challenge in a very fast time indeed.”

St Neots junior rowers selected to represent the Eastern region

On March 8th, the Elite Juniors from St Neots Rowing Club took part in the Junior Sculling Head at Eton Dorney, the same venue used for rowing at the London Olympics, and came away with excellent results. This is a national event with the top crews from around the country competing for the very prestigious honour of winning their category. The boys’ J18 coxless quad of Adam Williams, Nick Shorten, Bryce Taylor and Fergus Mitchell came seventh out of 30, with the J15 girls’ coxed quad made up of Louise Shorten, Lauren Parren, Zoe Adamson, and Voirrey Taylor, coxed by Ellie Sadler, coming fifth in their division of 48. A mixed crew in a J16 quad of Rory Tynan, Adrian Vuylsteke, Olivia Hooper and Sam Clift came an admirable twentieth against some 40 teams composed entirely of older juniors. This was an exceptional performance by the St Neots Juniors.

Two days later on March 10th, the same juniors went to the Junior Inter-Regional Rowing Team East Trials in Peterborough to decide who will represent the Eastern region in the UK- wide inter-regional competition later this year. First division saw Fergus Mitchell come a close third in his single scull at J16, then Fergus went on to win in his J16 double scull as a composite boat with Josh Davies from Huntingdon. In the J15 single sculls, Louise Shorten came first with Lauren Parren in second. In the J14 single sculls, Zoe Adamson won with Voirrey Taylor coming second, despite Voirrey having to overtake two boats who wouldn’t move aside to let her through as they should do, and which cost her precious seconds. Louise and Lauren then won the J15 double scull category, and Voirrey and Zoe won in their J14 double scull. Olivia Hooper also demonstrated that she is on the road back to full fitness after injury by coming a very admirable fifth in her J15 single scull.

The outcome of the JIRR Team East Trials is that Fergus and Josh will represent the Eastern Region in their J16 double scull. Louise was selected as the J15 single sculler, Zoe was selected as the J14 single sculler, Louise and Lauren were selected as the J15 double scull, and Zoe and Voirrey selected as the J14 double scull. These elite juniors from St Neots RC will therefore represent the Eastern Region at the inter-regional championships in Nottingham later this year. A significant achievement all round.

Lastly, following on from Adam Williams participating in GB trials at J18 late last year and performing so well, Fergus Mitchell was invited to the J16 GB trials in Boston in late February and passed these trials in order to qualify for the GB J16 training camp in Nottingham in April. The success of Adam and Fergus at GB level, as well as the performances at the Sculling Head and Team East trials, put the St Neots Rowing Club name firmly in the limelight.

Andy Taylor, one of the junior coaches said:

All the juniors worked really hard and raced in very wet conditions at the Sculling Head, with only marginally better conditions on the Sunday. They’ve all done extremely well against a high number of other competitors and the club is very proud of their achievements.

St Neots women return to The Thames

On Saturday a women’s crew took part in the 73rd Women’s Head of the River Race on the River Thames, along with 306 other crews.  Competitors start at 10 second intervals and the entire race can take over two hours for all eights with nearly 3,000 rowers and coxes to complete the 6.8 kilometre course between Chiswick and Putney Bridges.

Thankfully the weather settled somewhat, and although overcast the conditions were very good with little wind, no rain and a fast flowing river on the returning tide.  The Intermediate 3 crew of Natasha Wilson at stroke, Mia Hartwell, Ali Brown, Lynne Taylor, Helen Knowles, Louise Rushworth, Sarah Davies and Dione Page at bow were ably coxed by Ali Young.

In an exciting race where the crew were three abreast across the course with their competitors on occasion, and were caught on the bow by another crew with poor steering, the cox kept the crew focused throughout the race and they maintained a steady rate of 30 strokes a minute throughout the race.  The race time was 21.57 seconds which did mean that the crew went down the rankings although they maintained their percentage difference versus the fastest time of the winning crew as last year.  And all with a bent rudder as a consequence of boating on a shallow concrete bank.

The women will be competing next at the Veterans’ Head of the River Race on 24 March, preceded by a men’s crew the day before.

Club Captain Alistair Mackie said:

It’s been a very frustrating winter with many rowing events cancelled by flooding and snow, and the ladies were keen to be racing competitively again. The crew have worked hard over the winter months to get out on the water when conditions allowed, backed up by indoor training.”

St Neots rowers maintain momentum

Adam Williams from St Neots Rowing Club competed at his first GB junior trials at Boston in Lincolnshire last weekend.

In February this year Adam made the switch from his first sporting passion, that of rugby, to concentrate on his rowing. Ever since, Adam and his St Neots’ team mates have been on an intensive training programme which has led to some great performances this year, including a bronze medal for Adam and Nick Shorten at the National Rowing Championships.

In October 2012, Adam achieved the required 2km ergo time to be invited to trial for Great Britain Junior Squad. Adam (16) competed against 136 other male athletes, aged 16 to 17, in single sculling boats over a 5,000m course at Boston. The rowing conditions were good and Adam finished 87th in a time of 19 minutes 34 seconds. This is a great start for Adam who will continue to train hard for his club and work towards his GB ambitions whilst studying for his A-Levels at Longsands Academy.

Other St Neots crews also competed at Bedford Star Club’s Autumn Small Boats Head the same weekend and came away with some successes. In beautiful rowing conditions John Knights, the club’s most senior sculler, recorded a victory in his Masters G single sculls category and at the junior end Zoe Adamson and Voirrey Taylor won their Junior 14 double sculls category. Molly Harper was the other junior to race in her J14 single scull and will have gained good experience.

The senior contingent comprised three ladies’crews. The novice ladies coxed four won their category, although unfortunately their opposition withdrew, the masters D ladies coxed four achieved second place, and the novice coxless quad also gained second place in their first race of this category, and with just three training sessions as this crew in preparation. The mixed IM2 double sculls of Mia Hartwell and Josh Dexter continued to reign with their string of wins.

Gritty performance at Henley Head of River

Henley Sculls Head of the River Race provided testing conditions for St Neots Rowing Club Juniors on Saturday, with a fast stream and headwind over the 3k Thames course.  This did not deter the youngsters who all put in a gritty performance in all their events, resulting in wins for four of them. Many of the juniors took part in two events each, with all of them doing a single sculls race.

The J18 double of Nick Shorten and Adam Williams won their category with the fifth fastest time of the day, an impressive 13 minutes and 21 seconds. The WJ14 coxed quad of Louise Shorten, Zoe Adamson, Voirrey Taylor and Lauren Parren, coxed by younger brother Shaun Parren beat their opposition in 14:26. Louise Shorten then went on to win her WJ15 single sculls event with a time of 16:11, with Zoe Adamson achieving 17:06 in the WJ14 single sculls category.

Other juniors who took part were Rory Tynan, Fergus Mitchell and Ellie Sadler, who with the other juniors, will have gained invaluable experience from rowing on tidal water on an unfamiliar course.

The only senior crew to take part was that of the WMasters E handicap double of Ali Brown and Helen Knowles, who gained a creditable second place in 16:46 (time adjusted).

One of the junior coaches Helen Knowles said:

All the juniors did exceptionally well in difficult conditions.  In fact it wasn’t until mid-afternoon the day before that we knew the event would be on due to fast flowing water.  Add in the head wind and we all had a hard row. They will all have learned from this and showed real grit.”

Triple success for St Neots senior rowers

Testing weather conditions with strong, blustery cross winds, didn’t deter the St Neots Rowing Club Seniors on Saturday, who came away with 100% success at the Huntingdon Head Races. Three senior crews were entered and all won their categories over a 4k distance.

First to go were the Masters C men’s coxed four of Graham Mailer at stroke, Clive Emerson, Stuart Williams and Kevin Sadler, coxed by James Cass. Strong winds in their first division caught the boat at one point, resulting in an encounter with the bank, but this didn’t stop the men from winning their category.

In the second division, it was the turn of the women’s Masters D coxed four with stroke Ali Brown, Lynne Taylor, Sarah Davies, Dione Page and coxed by Ali Young. Their race wasn’t without incident either as there was a coming together with a women’s double they were overtaking which resulted in stroke’s blade getting caught under the bows of the double.  Nonetheless the ladies regained their impetus to win their category.

It was then the turn of the men’s eight when Mailer, Emerson and Williams were joined by Alistair Mackie, Josh Dexter, Adam Williams, Bryce Taylor and Nick Shorten, coxed by Mia Hartwell. Conditions for this division became very stormy with heavy rain, sleet and high winds, plus a quad running into them, but again the crew refocused to win their event.

John Knights did a time only race in the single sculls Masters F category and did record the fastest time for this event.

Club Captain Alistair Mackie said:

Conditions were far from ideal with high winds, and driving rain during the third division in particular, so the seniors all did extremely well.  And particularly so as all crews were pulled together at the last minute so had to quickly gel as cohesive crews in order to win their events.”

St Neots junior rowers continue to reign

St Neots Rowing Club sent a strong contingent of crews to compete in the Bedford Autumn Small Boats Head on Sunday 14 October and came home with an impressive 11 wins, 9 of which were achieved by the junior squad.  Conditions throughout the day were ideal for racing; bright and sunny with no breeze.

In the women’s J14 single scull event, Voirrey Taylor overcame her nerves in her first singles event, to come top in a field of 13.  Louise Shorten took top place in the J14 single scull class with Lauren Parren and Hannah Bousefield placing 3rd and 7th out of a strong field of 32 competitors. Hannah and Voirrey joined forces with Zoe Adamson and Molly Harper and coxed by Danni Lewell won the J14 coxed quad event.

Louise and Lauren then doubled up with Olivia Hooper and Ellie Sadler, with Danni as cox, to row in the senior category of women’s novice coxed quad and take the winning position.

Not satisfied with these successes, Louise and Lauren also won the J15 doubles event with a time some 25 seconds ahead of their second place competitors and Zoe and Molly doubled up to win their J14 event.

For the boys there were wins in the J18 doubles for Adam Williams and Nick Shorten, and for Rory Tynan and Fergus Mitchell in their J16 doubles.  Like the girls, the boys doubled up with Nick Shorten and Bryce Taylor to earn a win in the J18 coxless quad and recorded the 4th fastest time of the day.

For the seniors, the women’s novice coxed four won their event, with Lynne Taylor at stroke, Rachel Tackley, Amanda Kruvand and Louise Rushworth, coxed by Ali Young. This crew had only had one previous outing prior to racing and this was the first race for Amanda Kruvand. Mia Hartwell and Josh Dexter won in their mixed IM3 doubles category.

Also competing were the Women’s Masters E 2x of Helen Knowles and Ali Brown; in the J18 2x Bryce Taylor and Jack Jakins, J16 2x Giovanni Chinnici and Sam Clift, Masters G 1x John Knights, Masters B 1x Stuart Williams, WIM 3 coxed four of Lynne Taylor, Sarah Porteus, Sarah Davies and Mia Hartwell, coxed by Rachel Tackley.

Junior coach Helen Knowles said:

The juniors, particularly the girls, have built on their experience and success at the previous week’s racing at their own club’s Small Boats Head to produce some very creditable racing – overall a stunning day’s results.”

Lucky thirteen for St Neots crews

St Neots held its annual Small Boats Head races on Sunday 7 October and achieved thirteen wins, with the junior squad dominating the day, beating off stiff competition. The river was flowing well after recent rainfall with the fastest time over the 2.6k distance set by the rowing club’s J18 quad of Nick Shorten, Adam Williams, Jack Jakins and Bryce Taylor.

This is the club’s second largest event of the year after the regatta which takes place in July, and was particularly important this year after the regatta’s cancellation due to adverse weather. Crews compete in a range of boat sizes, from single sculls to those with four crew members, and the many bends encountered in the early stages of the race can present a steering challenge to all, including the more experienced rowers.

The main head is rowed downstream from the Coneygeare campsite, with a shorter Mini-head of 1200 metres which is aimed at juniors beginning their rowing careers. Eleven clubs took part this year, including 26 crews from St Neots, with a high number of entries overall at 237.

Nick Shorten and Adam Williams won the J17 doubles event, whilst Rory Tynan and Fergus Mitchell took the J16 doubles. Shorten also won in the Novice single sculls and Taylor took the IM3 single sculls categories. The girls squad was very successful with Lauren Parren, Louise Shorten, Olivia Hooper and Zoe Adamson, coxed by Danni Lewell winning their J15 quad event. Louise and Lauren paired up to win their J15 double sculls, and Olivia paired up with Ellie Sadler to win the J16 event. Louise picked up her third prize when she beat the opposition in the J16 single sculls, whilst Zoe did the same in the J14 sculls, and Lauren followed on in the J15 sculls, impressively beating 14 other contestants.

There were also wins in the Mini-head for Shaun Parren and Jamie Lynn in their J14B event, and Mollie Harper and Zoe Adamson in the J15B race. The boys quad of Isak Owen, brothers Michael and Thomas Jeff and Michael Meeks, coxed by James Cass were victorious in their J14B event.

Representing the senior squad there was a win for Natasha Wilson and Josh Dexter in the mixed IM3 double sculls, who put in a blistering pace after only a couple of pre-race outings. And the ladies novice four of Rachel Tackley, Louise Rushworth, Vanessa Ponter and Ann-Marie Wragg, coxed by Ali Young, were very excited to have won their category.

The day’s organiser and one of the club’s junior coaches, Helen Knowles said:

I am very pleased with the juniors’ performances today. Despite some of them having personal doubts before their races, they all showed great promise for the future. Many rowed in events above their ages and they all really stepped up, they should feel very pleased with themselves.”

Regatta disappointment becomes Bumps jubilation

St Neots Rowing Club’s bitter disappointment at having to cancel its regatta last weekend turned into immense jubilation when its three senior crews were successful at last week’s Cambridge Town Bumps. The club successfully retained the John Jenner Trophy for the second year running, beating ten other clubs.  This trophy is awarded to the club attaining the best overall results across the four days of racing, divided by the number of crews entered by that club.

St Neots entered three eights, a men’s and two women’s, and all three crews provided adrenaline-filled excitement to the watching spectators as they raced to improve their placings on the previous, and very successful, year.

The racing is held over four evenings on the River Cam and eights are lined up in separate divisions at set intervals along the river bank. A cannon is fired at countdown intervals until the final start cannon, at which point the crews strain every muscle in an explosion of energy to get a quicker start than the boat they are following. The aim is to catch and overlap the next crew before being caught by the chasing crew.  For the spectators it’s an exhilarating spectacle as boats catch and overlap, even physically bumping, and for the crews it’s either a few moments of immense power and speed and it’s all over, or for others it becomes an endurance test as they continue to chase down over a 2 kilometre distance.

The women’s second crew set the agenda each evening, with a row over the first night and three successive bumps on the following evenings, achieving a creditable 11th place in their division overall, three places higher. The women’s first crew racing in a higher division was bumped the first two evenings, with the second bump taking place just 400 metres from the finish. They then achieved two subsequent demanding row-overs, easily fending off the chasing crews but unable to bump the crew ahead. On all nights they had come to within half a boat-length of the preceding crew but were just unable to complete the bump.  They showed true grit and finished in a very creditable eighth place overall.

The men’s first eight bumped on three nights with one row-over and on the last night found themselves bumping the same crew twice, due to a dubious marshalling call. Other challenges over the week were hitting the bank and one crew member crabbing his blade but on all occasions the crew recovered very well and quickly made up time, much to the surprise of their victims.

Club Chairman Ed Porteus, who organised the St Neots crews and stroked the men’s crew said:

It really is a significant achievement for St Neots to retain this trophy for two years running. All three crews put in a magnificent effort over the four nights, with high drama on each evening making this a real victory for all the club’s rowers who showed true grit and determination. Our presence was very much felt at the event, and to achieve 6 bumps between us was just enough to pip City who had 18 boats taking part.”

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