Rowers from across the country descended on the River Ouse this weekend for the St Neots Rowing Club Regatta. A weekend that saw crews from 31 clubs competing in almost 400 races.

St Neots racing started with a successful composite crew with Derby Rowing Club, the crew victorious in the Women’s 8+ category against Broxbourne Rowing Club. The fortunes of the St Neots men were mixed in the Open 8+: off the back of a successful week at the Cambridge Rowing Association’s Town Bumps, the second men’s boat fell victim to Broxbourne in their first round race; the first boat rowed through both the London Otters and Peterborough to set up a final against the same Broxbourne crew, avenging their club-mates with a one-length win. The first pot (the prize for winning a rowing race) for half of the crew saw Matthew Wigmore, Dan Grimes, Mark Cooney and Cam Nuttall all end up in the river, as is tradition for losing their novice status.

There was similar success for St Neots in Saturday’s sculling events. The scratch Women’s double of Jaoine Evereste and Valentina Futoryanova enjoyed victory over Globe, and then two Derby crews to win their category. The Open coxless four of Huw Jarman (club Chair), Adam Williams, Adrian Vuylsteke and Dominic Chapman sailed to a victory in all three of their races, paddling over the finish line with a margin of over three boat lengths.

Sunday saw much better weather with the afternoon turning sunny and bright with some breeze. Matthew Wigmore won his first race in the open single sculls against Sudbury but lost in the semi-final to Broxbourne who went on to win the division. The mixed double composite Jacqui Round and Joel Grant Jones from Bedford Star; there were a total of ten boats in their category and the double beat Leeds, Bedford and then Sudbury in the final. There was further success from the junior squad in the J14 1 x boy’s single sculls: Ethan Sparrow had an excellent day of racing winning his quarter-final against Bedford Star and went on to win his semi-final against Peterborough but lost out to Bedford by one and a half lengths in the final.

Thanks to all those that went towards making the weekend a great success: organisers, sponsors, competitors and observers

After months of training as a crew, on Saturday 4th March, St Neots Rowing club Women’s competitive squad sent an eight to compete at the Women’s Head of the River Race on the Thames. The rowers and their boat were kindly hosted by the incredibly welcoming and organised Furnivall Sculling Club. The eight was coxed by Mia Hartwell and stroked by Valentina Futoryanova. The crew further consisted of Louise Shorten, Nat Yanousakis, Jaione Evereste, Emily Agn, Becki Dixon, Dominie Clarke and Olivia Marsh. After a first place at Peterborough Head of the Nene in February, the crew sought to channel the focus, precision and speed of their success on the 5k course to the Thames. Starting in position 176 on a cold afternoon and finishing in position 147 with a time of 22:05:09.

A special thank you to Derby rowing club who trailered our boats to London to get us to the Thames on the day.

St Neots Rowing Club entered five boats into the Head of the Nene on 4th February, across three different divisions. The weather was thankfully dry but with a strong headwind which Bradley from the Men’s 4- would later go on to describe made racing conditions ‘like rowing through treacle’.

An early start in the first division for Matthew Wigmore in the Men’s open single sculls. Matthew finished with a time that was 60% of Gold Medal Time, a key metric in rowing. Division two saw the Men’s Masters coxed 4 moved into the open category. The crew, coxed by Lisl Tudor and stroked by Stuart Williams, managed a great third place against the tougher competition on the 2.6 kilometre course.

The Mixed 8+ had been saved at the last minute by super-sub Charlie; stroked by Cam Nuttall they placed second in their category and it was a great second race for a boat made up majoritively of learn-to-row graduates from summer 2022. The final boat in the division was the Men’s coxless four stroked by Men’s competitive squad captain Rob Stirling. It was great to have so many Men’s crews entered and racing in Peterborough.

Finishing the day was the Women’s 8+ in division three, completing the longer five kilometre course race, stroked by Valentina Futoryanova and coxed by Mia Hartwell. The crew started at the top of their category meaning they were being chased by the other women’s eights crews for the whole race. They finished first by two seconds and 72.6% Gold Medal Time. They also overtook a Mixed 8+ crew, ahead of them in the starting order, and battled a Men’s crew in a tight sprint finish at the end of the five kilometre course. Thanks to a great event organised by Peterborough City Rowing Club; we will be back soon for the Spring and Summer regattas.

Six crews from St Neots rowing club travelled to Ely for their Head of the River race on 6th November and despite a cold and soggy day performed well on the 5km race course; home to the Cambridge University Blues.

Starting in division 1 which boated at 8am was a women’s double and a master’s mixed 8 crew who set out their 6km paddle to the start line in the drizzle and waited at the start line in some heavy rain. The women’s double finished fourth in their category and was the debut race for Clara Zwestloot and Olivia Marsh. An overtake mid-race at 3km and a strong finish to home cheers saw them achieve 64.68% of Gold medal time, a key metric in head racing. The Masters mixed eight put in a great showing for their first race as a crew, coxed by Sarah Leatham and stroked by Ali Brown.

Division 2 saw the debut race for St Neots’ newest cohort of rowers from the learn-to-row programme put in a great performance. A mixed crew of eight people who have all been rowing for less than a year, coxed by Matthew Wigmore and stroked by Emily Usher, finished in good spirits despite a brief stint rowing as a six instead of an eight while some emergency foot plate repairs took place mid-race.Division 3 brought a blissful break in the rain but a building headwind made conditions tricky

for the three men’s crews: a Men’s 4+, Masters Men’s 4+ and a Masters Men’s 2x. The Men’s 4+ with a last-minute cox change saw Clara in her second race of the day and the men’s crew came second out of six boats in their category. The Masters double of Dominic Chapman and Andy Major won their battle with the wind, overtaking six boats in what was Andy Major’s first race in 20 years. Ely was yet another triumph for the Masters crew 4+ on the back of their British Masters Champs win earlier in the year.