Superb set of results at the 2014 Bedford Rowing Club Head of the river
On Sunday the 12th of October junior crews from St Neots Rowing Club competed at the Bedford Rowing Club, Bedford Autumn Fours & Small Boats Head, picking up four wins and two second places.
Run over a 2,000m west to east course, the time trial format ‘head’ event starts from close to the town’s railway bridge and runs under the bridge in the city centre, past Bedford Rowing club, along the Embankment and finishes beyond the Butterfly Bridge.
In the morning, the hotly contested WJ161x category for women’s under 16 single sculls drew 20 entries including St Neots competitors Zoe Adamson, Kate Lyster and Molly Haper. The event was won by Zoe Adamson in a time of 8 minutes and 44 seconds, with Kate Lyster running her a very close second just 3 seconds off Zoe’s winning pace. Molly Harper put in a strong performance finishing 8th beating competitors from Putney High School, Star Club Bedford, Lincoln Rowing Club, Bedford Modern School, Bedford Girls School and Emanuel School.
Hannah Towns of St Neots took part in the Wj15 single sculls, posting a time of 10 minutes and 11 seconds, putting her 16th in a category which drew 28 competitors.
Racing a year up from her usual age category, Louise Shorten took part in the women’s under 18 single scull category. The St Neots and Wales International Rowing Squad member, came 6th with a time of 9 minutes and 9 seconds.
In the Junior 18 single scull category (J181x)St Neots’ Adrian Vuylsteke, Josh Davies and, Fergus Mitchell-Dwelly all put in strong performances. The top honours going to Josh Davies who won the event with a time of 7 minutes and 47 seconds, 1 second in front of Bedford Modern School’s highly rated rower Will White who this summer represented Great Britain in the European Junior championships, referred to as the Coupe de la Jeunesse held in Libourne, France. In the event Fergus came in 5th and Adrian came in 7th.
Josh Davies and Fergus Mitchell-Dwelly then teamed up in the J182x double scull category. The St Neots pairing, soundly trounced their opposition, beating them by 21 seconds with an impressive time of 7 minutes and 5 seconds.
In the afternoon divisions, St Neots junior rowers Zoe Adamson and Kate Lyster (pictured) took part in the women’s under 16 double scull class (WJ162x). They took on 10 crews from 5 other clubs, winning by a comfortable margin of 20 seconds ahead of the the pairing of Taylor and Brown from Bedford’s Star club. Later in the day, Kate Lyster was then drafted in as a substitute for an absent rower in another WJ162x boat, teaming up with newcomer Claudia Lee who was taking part in a ‘head’ event for the first time. The pair who had never even practiced together prior to the Bedford event, were delighted with their 5th place finish which put them ahead of crews from Oundle Town, Bedford Modern School and Emanuel School.
In the WJ182x category for women’s double sculls, St Neots fielded 2 crews. Liv Hooper and Ellie Sadler rowed a strong race to finish 4th, whilst Tash Holdaway and Elle Hendery also performed well in this competitive category posting a time of 10 minutes and four seconds.
St Neots also took part in the women’s junior 18 coxed four with a crew of Ellie Sadler, Liv Hooper, Molly Harper and Louise Shorten. Rowing as a brand new combination, the crew were rightly pleased with their showing that put them within 11 seconds of the winning crew from Putney High School.
Rowing in the heavily subscribed Junior 15 single scull category which drew 29 competitors, St Neots’ Jordan Beale posted a time of 9 minutes and 20 seconds, which put him 12th in what was only his second ‘head’ event ever.
Commenting on a successful day, St Neots Rowing Club Captain Ali Young said,
Today at Bedford was a really impressive showing for St Neots. It is great to see all the training that our juniors do being rewarded with such a strong set of results. As a club we are particularly delighted to see some of our newest junior rowers making the step up to the competitive stream and gaining some valuable experience, which bodes really well for the up-coming head season.”
Photography courtsey of Gordon Lyster