Junior rowers tackle long distance event
STRATFORD Boat Club’s junior squad travelled to the spiritual home of rowing, Henley-on-Thames, to compete in the annual Long Distance Sculls event.
Contested over 3km on Henley Reach, the event attracts top clubs and schools from around the country. With higher than normal stream levels the conditions favoured those who steered a canny course close to the bank.
The Stratford J16 squad competed twice, in both J16 and J18 events with the first crews to boat in WJ16 double sculls. Martha Baines and Poppy Warren delivered a solid row to record fifth place; Tessa Parkin and Josephine Cooper achieved eighth and Sophie Franklin and Becca Smith came home tenth. The WJ16 single scull athletes of Poppy Warren, Tessa Parkin and Becca Smith achieved seventh, ninth and tenth respectively.
Rowing up to the J18 category, the J16 athletes delivered strong second rows on the Henley course with single scullers Maeve Dunn, Martha Cooke, Isla Dunn and Millie Smith achieving creditable placings of 14th, 17th, 18th and 21st respectively.
In the J18 double sculls event, Martha Baines and Maeve Dunn ranked 11th, Millie Smith and Martha Cooke ranked 16th and the crew of Josephine Cooper and Isla Dunn came home 20th after being obstructed by a slower crew for the final 500m of the course.
With the usual first races of the season being cancelled, the J17/18 squad turned up at Henley excited at the prospect of some racing. The first Stratford crew consisted of Aimee Appleton, Lucy Sartain, Lily Warren and Poppy Baines racing in the WJ18 quads. Executing a blistering start, the quad stormed down the course to claim sixth in a competitive field.
Next up was the J17/18 double of Jamie Wilcock and Seth Vondrak racing for the first time together. They sculled well and fought hard down the course to overtake a crew in the final stretch to secure 11th place.
The afternoon division saw V Vondrak and Scarlett Richardson compete in the WJ18 2x event. Settling in quickly to their race pace, rowing a good length and rhythm, they overtook one crew in the first 1500m and continued pushing all the way to the finish to earn a very respectable third.
Finally, racing a year up in the J18 1x, Xavier Sissins-Roffey got off to a quick start and fought hard all the way to earn himself 40th out of 55 in a competitive field.
J17/18 coach Eric Appleton said: “This was the first chance to race for many of the squad over the last three months so it was good to get out and put all the hard training into practice on such a famous stretch of river. We’re very happy with the performances and look forward to the next race.”
Stratford Masters WMD4x squad of Ellie Davis, Gina Fusco, Christine Goodwin and Ruth Poulten were inspired by the opportunity to race the iconic Henley Royal Regatta course. Starting 3km downstream, conditions were good with five other crews competing in their category.
They got off to a great start but a strong Marlow quad forced them into the middle of the river at the famous Temple Island and into a challenging upstream current. Undeterred and motivated by the encouragement at recent indoor ergo sessions, the Stratford crew held their line for the rest of the course racing side by side with the Marlow rowers to finish in a respectable fifth place.
Nick Sartain represented Stratford’s masters men. It proved to be a demanding race, especially given the lack of recent long-distance training, against a competitive field. Pleased with his performance, Nick is looking forward to Stourport Head next weekend.
