STRATFORD-upon-Avon Boat Club’s junior and masters rowers excelled competing at the Bedford Spring Head.
A total of 30 Stratford crews took to the water over a 2,000m course on the River Great Ouse.
The club’s J17/18 squad raced in the OpJ18 single sculls as Xavier Sissins-Roffey and Seth Vondrak finished second and third respectively.
The duo then teamed up to race in the OpJ18 double scull where they crossed the line in second place just one second behind the winners.
In the women’s events, Stratford’s WJ18 single scull rower Alexandra Francis stormed to victory with teammate Poppy Baines in second place.
Stratford’s J17 scullers Maeve Dunn, Martha Baines, Martha Cooke and Millie Smith finished fifth, seventh, 10th and 11th respectively in their race.
The club’s J17 and J18 women then formed double sculls pairs.
Francis and Cooke powered down the course to finish second with Poppy and Martha Baines further back in sixth place.
In the WJ17 event, M Smith and M Dunn placed fourth while Becca Smith and I Dunn just behind in eighth.
And the women’s J18 coxless quadruple scull of I Dunn, B Smith, Sophie Evand and Cooke finished just outside of the medals in fourth place.
Stratford’s J14 squad also took to the water as the crew of Islay Milles, Eva Cruise, Amelia Cruickshank and Mary Heenan coxed by Charlotte Franklin took gold.
And the boys quad of Archie Eaton, Chris Durance, Arthur Burt and Ethan Siwakowski coxed by Eli Ford also won gold for Stratford.
The boys’ doubles of Ford and Archie Mansfield and Durance and Burt recorded solid times while the girls’ crews of Cruise and Franklin and Cruickshank and Milles also impressed in their races.
Stratford coach, Jon Francis said: “As a curtain closer on the winter head season we could have asked no more and the J14s come away with richly deserved silverware for their efforts.”
Stratford’s masters squad also competed in the E 2x category as Ellie Davis and Gina Fusco as the pair caught two opposition crews in their division and finished ahead of five other crews.
Davis and Fusco said: “We had to wait until the evening to know where we had come but we were over the moon when we discovered we had won. Many thanks to Sam Hill for his coaching.”
Stratford’s mixed masters double of Rebecca England and Tom Doherty competed in the final division of the event.
Changeable weather conditions made for a tough test of blustery winds and rain.
Stratford led off the start ahead of four opposition crews down the 1.9km course.
The crew pulled ahead over the first half of the course with England setting a pace of 32 strokes a minute at stroke.
However, calamity struck when England’s footplate broke which forced the crew to make some technical adjustments.
Despite this setback, Stratford finished the race in a respectable time of eight minutes and five seconds which proved a considerably faster time than any of their competitors resulting in another victory.
