STRATFORD-upon-Avon Boat Club’s junior squad began the season with a series of races at the Wycliffe Big Head.
A number of the club’s crews took on the challenging 4,500m course in strong winds competing against 85 other crews.
Stratford’s J16 girls crew of Lily Warren, Alexandra Francis, Poppy Baines and Martha Baines raced up an age group and produced a strong performance to finish second in their category.
And the J16 boys crew of Seth Vondrak, Xavier Sissins-Rofey, Theo Richter, Ollie Rowlands and cox Meg Nuttall finished third in the coxed four event.
The Wycliffe Big Head represented the first competition in which Stratford’s J17 and J18 girls competed in an eight this season.
Eloise Cooper, Lucy Sartain, Scarlett Richardson, Jess Long, Aimee Appleton, V Vondrak, Uch Nwachukwu, Kate Richardson and coxswain Imogen Hill maintained a strong rhythm throughout to cross the line in eighth place.
Stratford’s J17/18 coach, Sam Hill, said: “This was a very encouraging performance against some of the top clubs and rowing schools in the country and bodes well for their next big race on the Thames in March.”
