We had a large entry of crews into HWR this year, many of who were looking to gain experience in their singles, racing in an environment which is more intense than the normal multi-lane racing.
The weekend started off early Friday morning with time trials in almost all events - a testament to the increased popularity and growth of the regatta. All crews made it through the time trials successfully and prepared to compete in the main regatta.
The Senior quad of Anna Thornton, Catherine Lineker, Kyra Edwards and Beth Lloyd racing for the Chairman's Trophy were first to compete, beating Star Club with an Easily verdict. They then went on to beat a UWE/UTRC composite on the Saturday before being beaten by a very strong Molsey/Putney Town/Strathclyde composite in the semi-finals.
We had 2 single scullers racing in the senior singles for the Bernard Churcher Trophy. Laura Champion and Abigail MacCartney both raced well, but were both sadly beaten by Pepper from Star and Arrow in successive rounds. Pepper went on to lose narrowly in the final. Rosie Taylor was racing in the Senior Lightweight singles, an event won by Yasmin last year. Rosie is new to the squad this year and had an excellent row, but was ultimately beaten on Saturday by Lewis from Greenbank Falmouth. For all 3 scullers this has given them a chance to see where they stand individually against the rest of the domestic competition, and will fuel their winter training for next season.
Yasmin made the step up to elite lightweight singles this year, racing in an event which contained athletes who were subsequently named in the GB U23 and senior teams. Despite a solid row, Yasmin was beaten by Humphries of TSS on the Saturday.
There were two senior doubles entered, racing for the Rosie Mayglothling trophy. Vicky Jones and Caitlin had found they were an excellent combination through the season, winning at Nottingham City Regatta and forming well as a double. The other double of Kirstie and Nikki were second at Notts City and hoping the extra few weeks training up to HWR would help them improve on this position. Vicky and Caitlin, despite carrying an injury onboard, raced well to hold TSS level through the enclosures, but the Scullers crew dug deep and unfortunately edged the double to the line.
Nikki and Kirstie had a solid couple of rows on the Saturday, giving them the opportunity to practice their race plan and learn to handle the environment at the start. On Sunday they had a good race against Reading RC, and then faced Glasgow Uni in the final. Times through the regatta had suggested this was going to be a close final. The girls went out hard and got themselves ahead by the barrier, where they held their distance through to the finish, to win by 1 1/2 lengths.
Thanks must go to the organising committee for another well run regatta, and also to the programme designer who found the best crew from last year to put on the front cover!
