STRATFORD-upon-Avon Boat Club’s younger squads acquitted themselves well at the Evesham Sprint Regatta in the season’s first side-by-side racing.
The J13 girls’ quad of Mary Heenan, Islay Milles, Isobel Jackson, Charlotte Franklin and Lilly Parsons (cox) overwhelmed their early opponents but narrowly missed out to the home side in the final.
And the J13 boys’ quad of Archie Mansfield, Christopher Durance, Ethan Siwakowski, Arthur Burt and Archie Eaton (cox) rounded off the event in a hotly contested pursuit of the Evesham winners.
Stratford’s J14s swept aside their opponents in the coxed quads events as Tristan Hammick, Nathan Lebordais, Connor Birrell, Reuben Stanford and Herbie Shickle (cox) eased to victory over successive Monmouth crews.
And the girls’ boat of Scarlet Wheeler, Lilly Parsons, Meredith Paul, Abi Dunn and Martina Bruce-Bonilla (cox) won all of their races.
Stratford’s J13/14 coach, Jon Francis said: “I was delighted with the display from both squads and was particularly impressed with the calm demeanour of the J13s in their first ever regatta.”
Stratford’s J15 squad also sorted their side-by-side racing season at Evesham over the 1,000m upstream course.
Euan Richter and Will Shaw saw off their Cheltenham College Boat Club opposition in the OJ15 2x semi-final by five lengths.
And the pair then beat Worcester Royal Grammar by one and a quarter lengths in the final.
Stratford’s Orla Linforth and Erin Appleton sculled in the WJ15 2x semi-final, losing against a strong Evesham duo.
The OJ15 4x+ crew of Seb Happel, Euan Richter, Will Shaw, Ed Appleton and Rory Jones won their first race against Ross Rowing Club.
And the crew then triumphed against Magdalen College in the semi-final only to fall short against Cheltenham College in the final.
Rory Rowan sculled well in the OJ15 1x event but lost out to a strong sculler from Worcester.
And Naomi Sime lost to a powerful sculler from Ross Rowing Club in the WJ15 1x event.
Maria Ntoukaki won her semi-final against a sculler from Warwick Boat Club but lost to a sculler from Ross by a small margin in the final.
Stratford’s J15 coach, Hugo Happel said: “The J15 squad again showed lovely technique, attitude and desire both on and off the water with some good learning to carry forward into the next regatta events. Well done to the athletes.”
Stratford’s masters squad had five crews in action at the Evesham Regatta.
The OpMI2x of Paul Collins and Mike Adkins competed as a double while the OpC/D4+ crew raced as well.
And the crew of Jack Ingleby, Mark Kelly, David Vazquez and Phil Marshall rowed for just the third time together using a borrowed bow loader boat with a borrowed cox and a swap of crew position.
Stratford’s women’s masters DVIII crew took part in a handicapped race against Evesham.
The latter crew had an eight-second head start but Stratford still came out on top in a close finish.
Crew captain, Katie Burman said: “I’m very proud of this terrific crew of tremendous ladies who have trained hard, showed great team spirit, resulting in a really strong performance.
Stratford’s masters vice-captain, Amanda Bowden added: “Special thanks to Phil Marshall from Stratford Boat Club for his assistance with boat checks, to Evesham Rowing Club for the loan of a boat, to our very capable race cox Jess Salmon from Evesham Rowing Club and to all the Stratford supporters who came to cheer us on.”
Stratford’s senior men’s 4x crew faced tough opposition from Evesham while the WE4x just missed out on victory in a straight final in their race.
Elsewhere, Stratford’s J18 girls crew of Alexandra Francis, Scarlett Richardson, V Vondrak and Lucy Sartain competed at the Wallingford Regatta held at Dorney Lake’s two-kilometre Olympic course.
The WJ18 coxless quad put in a strong performance and executed their race plan perfectly to finish second in the heats in a time of 7 minutes 13 seconds.
This secured the crew a place in the final where they finished sixth in difficult conditions.
