STRATFORD-upon-Avon Boat Club’s development squad entered their first-ever regatta organised by Upton Rowing Club.
Designed for entrants new to the sport with less than a year’s experience, Stratford entered three crews.
The club’s latest batch of rowers, including club chairman Dawson Curnock, raced against six other crews from Evesham, Upton and Monmouth Rowing Club’s in a round-robin format over the course of 375m.
The format ensured each crew took part in six races with the winner not known until the very last race.
Stratford’s crew of Jack Ingleby (stroke), Tom Stokes, Charlotte Juxon and Lottie Jones (Monmouth), with Peter Barker (Upton’s chairman) at cox, showed impressive skills and delivered five straight wins going into the final race.
They took on a Monmouth crew in the final who had also won five consecutive races.
However, Stratford won a close race by two and a half lengths to claim the overall competition title in the process.
Another Stratford crew of Curnock (stroke), Gavin Bliss, Urania Carreiro and Sarah-Jane Walker with Lucy Scarlett in her first ever event as a cox, delivered a solid performance of four wins to finish in third place.
Stratford’s final crew of Sally Bliss (stroke), Brian Gravelsons, David Triggs and Suzanne Johnson, coxed by Elisabeth Edwards, came sixth overall, but showed improvement throughout the day.
They lost their fifth race by less than half a length and won their final race by four lengths in convincing fashion.
Stratford’s development squad coach, Hannah Crone, said: “Everyone had a super day and a fantastic introduction to competitive rowing.”
