Peterborough Head of the Nene

St Neots Rowing Club entered five boats into the Head of the Nene on 4th February, across three different divisions. The weather was thankfully dry but with a strong headwind which Bradley from the Men’s 4- would later go on to describe made racing conditions ‘like rowing through treacle’.

An early start in the first division for Matthew Wigmore in the Men’s open single sculls. Matthew finished with a time that was 60% of Gold Medal Time, a key metric in rowing.

Division two saw the Men’s Masters coxed 4 moved into the open category. The crew, coxed by Lisl Tudor and stroked by Stuart Williams, managed a great third place against the tougher competition on the 2.6 kilometre course.

The Mixed 8+ had been saved at the last minute by super-sub Charlie; stroked by Cam Nuttall they placed second in their category and it was a great second race for a boat made up majoritively of learn-to-row graduates from summer 2022.

The final boat in the division was the Men’s coxless four stroked by Men’s competitive squad captain Rob Stirling. It was great to have so many Men’s crews entered and racing in Peterborough.

Finishing the day was the Women’s 8+ in division three, completing the longer five kilometre course race, stroked by Valentina Futoryanova and coxed by Mia Hartwell. The crew started at the top of their category meaning they were being chased by the other women’s eights crews for the whole race. They finished first by two seconds and 72.6% Gold Medal Time. They also overtook a Mixed 8+ crew, ahead of them in the starting order, and battled a Men’s crew in a tight sprint finish at the end of the five kilometre course.

Thanks to a great event organised by Peterborough City Rowing Club; we will be back soon for the Spring and Summer regattas.