Alex shares these latest reports from Shanklin and Sandown Rowing Club. Ed
It was the turn of Shanklin’s Fours to deliver the strong performances as the club came away win less but extremely confident in the results.
Of the three Shanklin crews entered, only one was a ‘regular’ crew, putting the onus on the adaptability of the clubs rowers on the day! The head race, which exclusively caters for coastal fours, is run by Southampton Amateur Rowing Club and 2017 proved to be a popular event with around 150 crews attending.
The first division saw the Men’s Junior Senior Four take to the water in both a different composition and formation to the boat that won at the South Coast Championships in September. Joe Robertson, Henry Mudge, Alex Robertson, Jamie Gamble and cox Ethan Walters had their first ever row together as they headed up to the top of the course.
Despite this obvious disadvantage, the guys quickly found their feet together and with a savvy course from the young cox Ethan the crew posted an extremely competitive time of 17.26.03 that saw them finish in second place, just over twenty seconds off the strong first placed BTC crew. The result, impressive enough in itself was further complimented by the fact that three of the four rowers in the boat were Junior status.
In the second division there were a further two boats on the water.
The first of the two crews was the Ladies Junior Four. Regulars in the big boat were Emily Andre and stroke Stella Gamble. The two were joined by Daisy and Emily Faithfull (bow) and Itchen cox Owen Barnaby.
Despite having rowed together in a variety of combinations previously, this crew was also using its row up to the start as a crash course! This didn’t seem to phase them however, as they raced in an event proving to be one of the most competitive out there this year, finishing in a time of 18.04.09 to take fourth place behind winners and fellow islanders Ryde.
The final Shanklin boat to row down the course was the J16 Quad Scull. The crew of Mia Phelan, Riley Horrix, Ethan Walters and Sophie Atkin might be forgiven for seeing rowing up and back down the River Itchen as a baptism of fire – it was however nothing of the sort as the youngsters put in a fantastic row to finish in a time of 18.45.61. This fantastic time saw them beat several adult crews and put them only 40 seconds behind the club’s Junior Ladies boat. As if this were not enough, the crew’s two J16 boys were racing off the back of having just won a row off for the JIRR – an extremely productive day for the club’s J16 section!
The results, although perhaps not giving too much away about the club’s prospects this season, were promising ones and displayed the versatility of the club’s members as they put in strong performances in unfamiliar formations. Shanklin would finally like to thank Southampton Amateur Rowing Club for another smoothly run head race and to Itchen Imperial and BTC Rowing Club both of whom helped out with either boats or coxwains!
The club’s next event will now be the Junior Inter Regional Regatta at the end of the month.
Riley and Ethan earn Wessex place!
Shanklin have in recent years endeavored to support the Wessex British Rowing region in their annual event at the Junior Inter Regional Regatta in Nottingham at the end of Easter. An event that comprises J14/15/16 events in everything from the single scull to an Oct Scull, the coaches pick the best crews from the region to represent Wessex at the event. This year, Riley Horrix and Ethan Walters were aiming to gain their spot in the double scull event.
Despite the duo both only being 13, they were paired against a crew from Itchen to race off for the all important spot on the starting position in the J14 2x- at Nottingham.
Having to row off in the morning of the Southampton Coastal Fours Head, the pair arrived at Itchen Imperial to find the water was not too unfamiliar as a nasty wind swept across the mouth of the River Itchen.
After Itchen coach Chris Foad rightly suggested it would be safer if the crews rowed up river to find better water, Riley and Ethan rowed over four kilometers just to get to the start! This didn’t phase them on the start line on the Coalporters regatta course however, as they enjoyed a strong start. With both crews having a strong race it was first and foremost a fantastic display of the talent within our region, however, it was indeed the Shanklin boat that evetually had the better of the two rows and earned the spot at Nottingham!
The boys went on to row up the course even further later in the day as they then competed in the J14 Mixed Quad Scull event – they earned themselves a few days off that’s for sure!
The boys now look forward to training for JIRR which is on Saturday 22nd of April, we all wish them the best of luck!
