All in one day: Thames and Bedford
On the 13 October, St Neots entered two junior crews into the prestigious Pairs Head on the Thames. The weather was dreadful, with driving rain and tidal waves, and the two crews were up against the best in the country of all ages. Fergus Mitchell and Joshua Davies finished 24th fastest overall, and were the fastest J17-only crew on the day, which is an excellent result in difficult conditions. Nick Shorten and Adam Williams also posted a very good result at the top end of the table, despite colliding with a buoy in the turbulent water and almost capsizing.
On the same day the rest of the Junior Competitive Stream raced at Bedford’s Small Boats Head where again the weather was foul, with very heavy rain. Result of the day went to Voirrey Taylor and Louise Shorten who won by 32 seconds in their double scull, which is a huge margin of victory over a 1.8 km course, and significantly quicker than winning crews in older age-group divisions. Lauren Parren also had a very good row indeed, winning her category in a single scull in a respectable time. Rory Tynan and Adrian Vulsteke came a creditable second in their double scull, building on their first win at the St Neots Head two weeks previously. Finally Sam Clift, Olivia Hooper and Zoe Adamson each had good races in their single sculls and achieved good places despite the torrid weather conditions.