Stratford juniors make waves at Henley Women’s Regatta

ROWING

STRATFORD Boat Club juniors secured some good results at the Henley Women’s Regatta last Friday.

The junior coxed four of Katie Wellstead, Talei Dunn, Emily Brown and Khloe Curnock, coxed once more by Mimi Hill, were one of 21 crews from the UK and the USA competing in the event.

Only 16 crews could qualify from the time trial to join the side-by-side racing.

Of the 16 crews, the fastest eight are seeded.

The Stratford girls qualified and were only five seconds from joining the seeded group.

In their heat, the girls were drawn to race the number one seed, a crew made up of athletes from three Scottish schools.

Stratford got off to a tremendous start as the crews began to race over the 1,500 metre course.

As the crews approached the halfway stage, the Scots had begun to edge in front.

At the finish, the exhausted Stratford crew were only three lengths behind the winners who went on to reach the grand final.

J17/18 coach Graham Collier said: “This was a gutsy performance by the young Stratford crew and tees up the squad nicely for their races at the National Championships in July.”

Also in action were the U16 coxless quadruple scull of Jasmine Mountney, Alice Baines, Mya Kenny and Mili Wilcock.

Their time trial took place in the evening sun, with 19 crews entered hailing from around the UK and Australia.

The girls delivered their race plan to the letter and produced a first class row over the Henley course to be placed tenth.

However, only the top eight progressed to the next round, but with just two seconds between them and the qualifying crews, they can be justifiably proud of their performance.

Steve Wellstead, junior co-ordinator and J16 coach, said: “The club is extremely proud to be able to field two junior crews at such a prestigious event and we are delighted with their performance against some of the finest rowing schools and clubs in the country.”