Mixed fortunes for St Neots Rowing Club

There were mixed fortunes for the senior men’s and women’s eights at the Head of the River Races on the Thames over the weekend.

The men’s race on Saturday was abandoned after 75 crews had completed the course, because of very difficult conditions at the finish line and beyond. With the tide turning late and the wind gusting at the finish causing some 4 crews to become swamped, the organisers had to abandon the racing in the interest of safety, so those crews who hadn’t yet raced, including St Neots, had to get back to their boating area in one piece. Needless to say the men’s crew was very disappointed after putting in the hours in training.

However, conditions were much better on Sunday when the women’s Masters C crew raced in the Vets Head of the River, with minimal wind and a fast flowing tide. After an hour’s delay at the start, the crew of Mia Hartwell (cox), Ali Brown (stroke), Helen Knowles, Tash Wilson, Lynne Taylor, Marlene Taylor, Dione Page, Rachel Tackley and Ali Young (bow) completed the 4k course at a brisk 32 strokes per minute in 14 minutes and 31 seconds, coming 12 out of 22 crews in this category. This provisional result means that they moved up 81 places to be placed 112 overall, out of 209 crews.

Club Captain Ali Young said:

There were mixed fortunes for the club and a disappointing day for the men who were geared up and ready to put in a good effort.  Thankfully, the weather was beautiful on the Sunday and the ladies put in a strong performance, including in the closing stages of the race where they pushed on hard against an overseas crew.”

St Neots Rowing Club is running its next 10 week Learn to Row course from Saturday 12 April.  There will be 10 sessions over 5 weeks on Saturday afternoons and Wednesday evenings, at a cost of £90, with at £49 discount for those who become full members on completion of the course. All ages of 17 and over are welcome.  Anyone interested in taking up the sport, either competitively or recreationally can find out more details from the here and get their place booked.