Fast times and first wins at 2015 St Neots head race
There were fast times and first wins at this year’s St Neots head race, on Sunday 4 October, as 170 crews from 17 clubs took full advantage of warm weather and a calm 2.6-kilometre course.
The quickest time of the day was a lung-bursting 8mins 41 secs, by an IM3 4x crew from Bedford Modern School. The fastest St Neots crew was Clive Emmerson, Stuart Williams, Steve Fox and Mick Staddon, although their time of 9mins 23secs wasn’t enough to win the MasD 4x category.
There were outstanding performances from lots of St Neots rowers, including wins for newly elected club captain Steve Fox in the MasD 1x category (11mins 21 secs), and for Tim Neill and Dave Bygraves in the MasA NOV 2x category, who finished more than a minute faster than their nearest rivals in 11mins 3secs.
Adrian Vuylsteke and Dom Chapman recorded the club’s fastest winning time, finishing in 9mins 32secs to win the IM1 2x category. Jade Hellett had her first ever win in a single, and Natasha Holdaway won her first ever pot after joining forces with Emily Harman from Huntingdon Rowing Club; they finished just three seconds quicker than their nearest rivals in the WNOV 2x category, in a time of 11mins 17secs.
There was also success for St Neots in the mini-head, held over a 1.3-kilometre course for junior rowers. The WJ15 4x+ crew comprising Izzy Pigg, Etilly Pigg, Abi Parrish and Leah Smith were coxed by Louise Shorten and recorded an impressive 4mins 27secs – a winning margin of 11 seconds and the fastest mini-head time of the day.
The icing on the cake came in the form of The Harry Evans Memorial Trophy, presented to the club with the most wins on the day. St Neots took it with eight victories, just pipping Bedford Girls’ School and Bedford Modern School with seven wins each.
“This year’s head provided some really outstanding times, so well done to everyone who took part,” said Josh Dexter, who led the event’s organising committee. “Huge thanks also to everyone at the club who pitched in to make sure everything ran smoothly on the day. We’ve had lots of emails from visiting clubs, congratulating us on another brilliant event, and we’re already discussing a few ideas to make things even better next year.”
St Neots winners
[table sort=”asc” width=”900″ colwidth=”150|550|200″ colalign=”left|left|left”]Category,Crew,Time
IM1 2x, Adrian Vuylsteke and Dom Chapman, 9mins 32secs
IM2 2-, Alistair Hamilton and Max Taylor, 10mins
MasANOV 2x, Tim Neill and Dave Bygraves, 11mins 3secs
WIM3 2-, Louise Shorten and Olivia Hooper, 11mins 6secs
WNOV 2x, Natasha Holdaway and Emily Harman (Huntingdon), 11mins 17secs
MasD 1x, Steve Fox, 11mins 21secs
WNOV 1x, Jade Hellett, 12mins 5secs
WJ15B 4x+, Izzy Pigg Etilly Pigg Abi Parrish Leah Smith and Louise Shorten (cox), 4mins 27secs
Other St Neots results
[table sort=”asc” width=”900″ colwidth=”150|550|200″ colalign=”left|left|left”]Category,Crew,Time
MasD 4x, Clive Emmerson Stuart Williams Steve Fox and Mick Staddon, 9mins 23
MxIM2 2x, Bryce Taylor and Voirrey Taylor (Bedford Modern School), 10 mins 1secs
IM3 4+, Bob Hetherington Kieron Marriner Martin Lycett Karl Zwetsloot and Mia Hartwell (cox), 10mins 50secs
NOV 1x, Jordan Beale, 11 mins 1sec
J16 1x, Jordan Beale, 11 mins 52secs
WNOV 2x, Jaione Echeveste and Kate Dingwall, 11 mins 20secs
WMasD/E 4+, Alison Brown Lynne Taylor Rachel Tackley Marlene Taylor and Louise Shorten (cox), 11mins 48secs
MasD 1x, Stuart Williams, 12mins
WJ14 1x, Etilly Pigg, 12mins 22secs
WNOV 1x, Natasha Holdaway, 12mins 29secs
NOV 1x, Griffin Giles, 12mins 43secs
WJ16 1x, Hannah Towns, 12mins 47secs
WJ15 1x, Abi Parrish, 13mins 4secs
WJ15 1x, Izzy Pigg, 13mins 14secs
WJ15B 1x, Leah Smith, 5mins 29secs