The Senior Men’s and Women’s Squads were joined this weekend racing at the National Watersports Centre for the Nottingham City Regatta (Saturday) and Nottingham Club and Masters Regatta (Sunday) by crews from the Hills Road squad and Junior Women’s Performance Squad.
The W.IM2.4+ receiving their pots
The Senior Women’s Squad were particularly successful, enjoying 4 wins over the weekend. In Saturday’s morning division 4 of the Provincial Pennant winning WEHoRR crew – Millie Perrin, Bailee Stratton, Harriet Cross, Georgia Vann and cox Esther Momcilovic – were clear winners in W.IM2.4+.
Before they’d even left the presentation pontoon, Georgie Plunkett – winner of the women’s club 1x at Wallingford 2 weeks ago – came storming past, 11 seconds clear of the 2nd placed sculler in W.IM2.1x by the finish. In the afternoon, the 4+ raced in IM1, finishing 2nd, learning a lot from the experience. Georgie raced in the elite lightweight singles and finished 5th, behind athletes who had all competed at GB trials. The Senior Women’s Squad are now in their final stages of preparation for Henley Women’s Regatta in a few weeks’ time.
GP winning W.IM2.1x
The Senior Men’s Squad sent some sculling boats to race on the Saturday, enjoying the opportunity to race some smaller boats for a change. Jimmy Adams and Hannes Burfeind raced in IM3.1x, both reaching the finals. However, both being accustomed to the flat waters of the Cam in their singles, they found the rough water and headwind at Nottingham really challenging, and finished 5th and 6th in their final.
Relatively inexperienced scullers Guy Fiddian and Jon McCree-Grey joined Hadi Boukhatmi and Jonah Harris in IM3.4x in the morning division, where they finished 5th overall. Hadi and Jonah went on to finish 3rd in IM1.2x in the afternoon division. The men are now turning their attention to training for Henley Royal Regatta in July.
The IM3.4x preparing to boat
The junior contingent had some valuable racing experience, and took a lot of confidence from their performances. A girls’ J18 double did well to finish 3rd in their event, whilst the J18 boys entered senior events and performed well, with some 2nd and 3rd place finishes in NOV.8+ and NOV.2x in scratch crews. These crews are all now in their final stages of preparation for the National Schools Regatta.
On the Sunday, there was success for the masters C4+ from the Senior Women’s Squad, winners of W.MasC.4+ at Vet Fours Head this season. Gill Cooper, Sue Hakenbeck, Sue Waterhouse and Judith Weik were victorious in W.MasC.4+ with cox Isabel Nimmo, and went on to win the coxless event in the afternoon. This crew are now looking towards racing at British Masters Regatta and Henley Masters Regatta in a few weeks’ time.
The winning W.MasC.4+/-
