Thanks to Steve for this report from Ryde Rowing Club. Ed
Wightlink sponsored Ryde Rowing Club did not have “a good day at the office” at Southsea Regatta on Saturday (19th July) – the largest one day rowing regatta in the country where the clubs from two of the three South Coast Rowing Associations meet for the only time before the South Coast Rowing Championships in September.
With holidays and work commitments reducing the size of the team to just four crews the results were disappointing for all of them.
Most disappointing was the performance of the Men’s Junior Senior Fours crew of Stephen Johnson, Adam Edwards, Ollie Gove and James Cleary with BTC’s Chloe Weaver coxing.
Having already won the Hants & Dorset ARA Championship they had hoped to lay down a strong marker for the South Coast Championships where they will represent the Association by beating the Coast ARA Champions – from Hearne Bay – but in difficult conditions they not only lost out to them – but also to their strongest rivals from their own Association – from Lymington, to finish third suffering their first defeat of the season.
The two Ryde’s men’s Novice crews were unfortunate enough to be drawn in the same heat and the Clubs A Crew of Will Ford, James Smith, Callum Lockhart and Issac Brading with Dale Buckett coxing will have been very disappointed to finish in sixth place behind the young Ryde Novice B Crew of Joel Smith, Dom Douglas, Jacob Redstone and Joe Groves with cox Austin Smith who finished in fifth – but with the first four qualifying for the final both crews missed out.
Ben Toms replaced Dom Douglas in the in the Novice B Crew to compete in the Boys J16 Coxed Quad event which was dominated by the Clubs from the Coast ARA with the Ryde crew finishing in sixth place although they were the second Hants & Dorset ARA Club to finish.
Image: infomatiqueaunder CC BY 2.0
