Winning crews set for national stage
STRATFORD Boat Club’s J13 squad enjoyed their first away fixture at the annual West Midlands Junior Championships in Hereford, demonstrating just how much they have learned in a few weather-afflicted months, reports Chris Best.
The reputation of the boys’ quad had clearly preceded them as their opposition elected to withdraw before the race leaving them free to proceed down the course in an impressive time. The girls’ quad was equally composed, just missing out on gold to a home crew who they chased all the way to the line.
After so many cancelled events the J14 squad were also out in force to demonstrate that the many hours of training had prepared them well. The J14 boys’ quad were in imperious form, sweeping aside the competition to win comfortably and earn the chance to represent the region on the national stage.
Not to be outdone, the girls’ quad was equally impressive amongst strong competition, missing out on gold by just 0.7 seconds over the 1.8km course.
In the WJ14 single sculls, Abi Dunn raced straight and strong to claim a deserved gold, followed by Meredith Paul (bronze) and Scarlet Wheeler just seconds later.
Competing for the first time as J15s, Stratford’s juniors had a very successful event. In Division One, Maria Ntoukaki claimed a bronze medal in the WJ15 1x event, beating some strong opposition from Ross and Hereford Cathedral Rowing Clubs.
In Division Two, the might of Royal Shrewsbury School Boat Club proved too much for Stratford’s OJ15 4+ boys consisting of Seb Happel, Will Shaw, Ed Appleton, Rory Rowan and Rory Jones (cox), nevertheless a tidy and composed row in their first ever sweep event. In Division Three, the WJ15 4+ crew of Maria Ntoukaki, Orla Linforth, Erin Appleton, coxed
by Ed Appleton and joined by Evesham rower Daisy Wilkes, beat strong opposition from Royal Shrewsbury over the 1,800m course to claim gold and will represent the West Midlands at Junior Inter-Regional Regatta in April, as a composite Stratford/Evesham crew.
Also in Division Three, Stratford’s OJ15 2x of Seb Happel and Will Shaw saw off a raft of strong scullers and will be representing our region at the same event.
The J16s competed in three events over the 1.8km course on the River Wye. First to race was Martha Baines in the WJ16 single scull and she recorded a solid sixth place.
Next to race was the women’s coxless quad in which Bryony Francis, Tessa Parkin, Maeve Dunn and Isla Dunn claimed a creditable silver medal, narrowly missing out to Hereford Cathedral School for the West Midlands jersey.
Double sculls of Poppy Warren and Sophie Franklin plus Tessa Parkin and Josephine Cooper recorded sixth and seventh respectively in their event.
Lack of opposition gave the WJ16 coxless four a place in the West Midlands team and the crew of Millie Smith, Becca Smith, Martha Baines and Martha Cooke used the event for race practice.
The J17/18 squad turned up in numbers. First up in Division One were the men’s and women’s coxless quads. The men’s boat of Vondrak, Wilcock, Rowlands and Albrighton, competing for the first time in this highly competitive boat class, sculled well and narrowly missed out on a bronze medal by just three tenths of a second.
In the women’s event both Stratford and Royal Grammar School Worcester were fielding two boats each but it was a clean sweep for the Stratford girls of Baines, Francis, Warren and Sartain securing gold and Appleton, Cooper, Davis and Jones the silver medal.
Division Two first saw the men’s pair of Sissins-Roffey and Vondrak against Kings Worcester in a one-on-one match with the Stratford boys proving too strong as they eased to gold.
Next, the double scull combination of Albrighton and Rowlands fought hard in a tight bunch of four crews competing for the bronze but in the end narrowly missed out on a medal by just two seconds.
The women’s double scull pairing of Vondrak and Richardson were up in a field of eight boats including the GB u19 Royal Grammar School Worcester crew. The Stratford girls
showed how competitive they are by securing the silver just eight seconds behind RGS and were a clear 20 seconds ahead of the third placed boat.
In Division Three, Stratford fielded three single scullers. Wilcock and Sissins-Roffey were in an event with 11 boats and finished ninth and fourth respectively. In the women’s race, Francis also secured a fourtth place in a field containing the RGS Worcester girls from the doubles event.
The final race of the day for the J17/18 squad brought the women together to compete in the eights race against Kings School Worcester. The scratch crew showed great form to row a tidy and strong race and took the gold medal by five seconds, rounding off a successful day.
