A small squad of 7 Guildford rowers competed at National Masters on 10th June at Nottingham. With the conditions worsening as the day progressed, Guildford enjoyed success, winning Gold in WMas A/B 4x. The crew comprised of Annika Gleichmann, Lenka Higley, Emma Pinchbeck and Jackie Johnson. Lenka, in her first competition of this calibre, came 3rd in WMas A 1x. Annika and Jackie faced tough competition in WMas B 2x and fought through to gain Silver. Well done to Helen Gray and Aimee Marshall who competed for the first time at WMas A 2x and gained valuable experience, and to Rob Hall who competed with Jeff Watling in Mas H 2x.
Huge thank you’s to Peter Scott for all his coaching and support, Eton Excelsior for towing to Nottingham, Richard Coldrick, Rob Hall and Paul Woowat for helping with organising and towing.
GRC sent 8 crews to Maidenhead Junior Regatta on Sunday 14th May. This regatta is specially structured for those new to rowing – ‘A’ events for those in their first 2 years and ‘B’ events for those in the first year. The regatta also operates a repechage system which gives the losers of first rounds a chance to race again in the second round. All the crews made it through the first 2 rounds of racing in the morning and in to the afternoon session. This proved a challenge with just 4 boats and the coxswains didn’t get much of a break. By the end of the day the Guildford crews had competed in 28 races – including 2 re-rows after dead heats, reached 4 finals and emerged the winners of 3 events. This earned us joint first place in the Victor Ludorum competition with Henley Rowing Club.
The winning crews were:
J14 4x+ Guy Tregear, Josh Ingham, Joe Bryant, Zac Harrison cox: Fay Dodd
J12 4x+ Lucas Hanin, Charlie Hall, Ben Isherwood, Benjy Kingerlee cox: Hannah Kingerlee
WJ12 4x+ Darcie Moss-Brown, Ella Curtis, Imogen Wells, Ellie Young cox: Sofia Palau
All of the other crews raced really well and were only narrowly defeated. Many thanks to Richard Mattos for towing both ways, to the coaches and helpers, and to the supporters who easily won the prize for loudest cheering effort. A great day out and lots of happy juniors after their first regatta.
The vet men traveled to Shrewsbury Regatta again this year. A small contingent again this year but an event the Club has attended continually for the past 17 years.
This year it was medals not pots for straight final winners that masters events tend to become, but victory still sweet.
On the saturday Bill & Paul won their first event in the pair with the four losing to Nottingham.
On sunday Bill Paul Steve & Richard formed a composite eight with Pengwern, taking victory against the Stourport crew we raced last year – losing last time by 2 feet but ahead by half a length this year. – so now one each with a re-match promised for next year. The four raced well against a strong Derby crew that certainly deserved the honours
Guildford Rowing Club Juniors have taken Gold at a national rowing event .
The J14 coxed quad of Eddie Vaughan, Richard Loch, Joe Bryant, Josh Ingram and Conrad Wells (cox) were at Nottingham Holme Pierrepont for the 2017 Junior Inter-Regional Regatta on Saturday, April 22nd.
They had seen off strong competition at Hampton on April 2nd to be selected to represent Thames London region.
Conditions on the day were perfect, with little wind and blue skies. The boys, wearing Thames London’s purple instead of GRC’s customary green and yellow, took a commanding lead in their heat and qualified for the ‘A’ Final, with the best time of all eleven competing crews.
In the ‘A’ Final the six fastest teams competed in a side-by-side race. Guildford found themselves up against particularly strong crews from Trentham and City of Bristol, who had beaten them to Gold and Silver at the Oarsport Sculling head in March. There was no room for complacency.
The very close and exciting race saw Guildford and Bristol lead from the start. It was neck and neck for the full length of the 1500m course. In a nail-biting finish the GRC crew gave it everything they had and won by a canvas, shaving nearly 10 seconds off their previous best time.
Thames London went on to win Victor Ludorum as the most successful region of the competition.
Head Junior Coach Richard Turpin said “This was a big moment for Guildford Rowing Club. Not only did they win a gold medal in a prestigious national event, but they were part of a regional team that won the over-all gold for most successful region.”
Club Captain Rachel Spruce said ” I couldn’t be prouder of what our Juniors and their dedicated coaching team have accomplished. To not only qualify for this national event for the first time in the club’s history, but to then go on and win it is an incredible achievement for all involved.”
Abingdon Head was hot on Sunday. The weather was more like summer than spring, with endless sunshine, a light stream and a tail wind which brought out the best for Guildford with five wins from six entries.
The event lacks some of the usual Junior numbers due to Easter Holidays but there was a good turn out of club crews from across the country. With up to 90 crews in each of four divisions racing over 2000 metres, a good warm up for the Regatta season ahead.
There were particularly good results for the women: the Senior Quad of Annika, Jackie, Jaime and Lenka set off at a brisk 33 to win their category in a time 17 seconds faster than the next women’s quad and placed them 24th overall, close to the fastest women’s crew of the day, an 8+ from Worcester.
Jackie and Lenka had planned to double up as a Masters B 2x but Lenka pulled a muscle in the closing stretch of the Quad race. When Jackie went to race control to scratch, she found Helen “in office” helping out her old club with the organisation; a quick substitution, some borrowed kit and the “scratch” pairing won with a comfortable margin of 28 seconds in the fastest Senior women’s 2x time of the day. Further testimony to the benefits of rowing as a squad and good reward for perseverance with common technique on the water and training in the gym.
The Men’s squad were not to be outdone. Rob Hall partnered with Jeff Watling of Southsea to record another Masters G/H 2x win, this time by just 1 second over their Southampton rivals BTC; while Mark and Richard made it another win for ‘Roger’ in Masters D 2x. The Quad of Dominic, Jake, Chris and Colin have only been on the water once together but they rowed together well and took ‘Helene’ to a win in their Men’s 4x category.
Well done all, next event for the Seniors: Marlow Spring on May 1st when we look forward to a good all-club day. Peter Scott
Guildford Rowing Club’s junior squad have hit a new high this week. Their J14 coxed quad, Eddie Vaughan, Richard Loch, Joe Bryant, Josh Ingham and cox, Conrad Wells, took part in the JIRR regional trials at Millennium Boathouse, Hampton yesterday. The boys beat Walton Rowing Club in a timed trial cover 1500m but an impressive 8.5 seconds and have qualified to represent Thames London region at the Junior Inter-Regional Finals in Nottingham on April 22nd.
Junior Head Coach, Richard Turpin, said “This is a tremendous result for Guildford Rowing Club as a whole. The boys rowed superbly. We need to bear in mind that all the clubs we row against train on the Thames, which make our achievement even more impressive. This is a testament to the extraordinary level of commitment given to the junior club by all the coaches and young people, who train on both land and the river. ”
The boys were entered for the JIRR trials after winning bronze at the Oarsport Junior Head at Dorney Lake on March 25th, where they competed against 63 teams from all over the UK.
Club Captain Rachel Spruce said “We are so proud of our J14’s. All their hard work and training, and that of their coaches, has really paid off.”
In Nottingham the crew will be competing against boys from 11 other regions of Britain.
Guildford Rowing Club, whose members include Paralympian Gold winner Rachel Morris, is currently raising funds for an exciting re-development which will make the club more accessible for adaptive rowers and enhance the club’s central ethos of making rowing available to all.
I hope you’re all enjoying the start of autumn. It’s a season of change both on and off the water, with lots of new club members across the squads and a chance to make new plans for the coming season.
Racing
In case you missed it, we have a fantastic regatta win to report, with Rachel Morris winning Paralympic Gold in the Arms & Shoulders Women’s Single Scull with a fantastic and breath-taking surge for the line at the Lagoa de Freitas in Rio be Janeiro. Those of us watching at the club went through the full spectrum of emotions as Rachel moved from 4th position at the half-way mark to storm through to 2nd with 250m, to then go on to win in a new Paralympic Best time.
As captain, I couldn’t be prouder of Rachel and her incredible performance and we’re having a celebration at the club on Sunday (6th November) now that the whirlwind of returning home has settled down a little. Please do let Paul (Chairman) know if you would like to join us ([email protected])
Thanks to Carolyn Turner and Catherine Houston for their support in organising this fundraising initiative and to everyone who donated bags of clothes. Every little helps now that we have been granted planning permission for the redevelopment.
Safety thoughts
As the nights draw in and the weather starts to throw more at us, we all need to take extra care both on and off the water. With rain comes red boards and it is important that all coaches, captains, coxes and steerers familiarise themselves with the red board procedure and safety rules as we all get out of practice over a benign summer.
We’ll also be organising a programme of safety events for coaches and rowers alike, including capsize drills, first aid courses and red-board refreshers. Please keep an eye out for information on these.
Club improvements & maintenance
You may have noticed the new edging to the landing stage, which was sorely needed after a few decades of wear and tear. While we are obviously hoping to rebuild in the near future, there are some maintenance issues that just can’t wait for safety reasons or to reduce other costs, such as boat damage; the landing stage was one of these. Thanks to our Chairman, Paul Woowat for arranging this.
Your Committee
We realise that sometimes the committee can seem a bit of a faceless entity, especially when we’re all so busy with our different squads and sessions. So, we are putting together committee profiles for the noticeboard and I’ll try to include one each month in the Newsletter. To kick everything off, here’s a bit about me:
I joined GRC in 2007 when I started studying at what was then the College of Law. I learned to row as a student and continued after graduating with a local town club. While at GRC, I’ve been Social Secretary and Women’s Captain, a rower, sculler, coach and occasional cox. Off the water, I work as a solicitor, am married to Ian (occasional Men’s squadder) and have a nearly two-year old daughter, Leonie. When not rowing (there is such a thing!) I enjoy baking, gardening and watching terrible tv.
There’ll be a new committee member profiled next month, or maybe two to catch us up a bit before the year is out.
I look forward to seeing lots of you on the river.
Special congratulations to the Junior Squad who have won no less than three Victor Ludorum trophies again this regatta season, at the Ball Cup (South), Kingston and Staines. Well done and many thanks to all involved.
And a special message of congratulations also to Justin Wells and Colin MacCombe from the Senior Men’s Squad who won at Maidenhead Regatta to lose their novice status.
Road to Rio
Coming up this week we have our very own Rachel Morris, Club Water Safety Officer, racing in the Paralympic Regatta in Rio de Janeiro. We will be watching the Finals on Sunday 11th September at the club from 12.30pm, so please do come and join us – the bar will be open.
Summer Party
Thanks to all those involved who help us have a great day down the river, with even the weather cooperating. Look out for our upcoming events, dates and details to follow over the coming weeks.
New Club Members
As is traditional at this time of year we are running beginners’ courses for both adults and juniors and we have also had an influx of new members over the summer, especially following the success of Team GB at the Olympic Regatta in August. So, welcome to all our new members and please be patient with us while we try to remember all your names!
Fundraising
We are continuing our fundraising initiatives and have raised £1,000 over the summer thanks to Fiona Land (Flo) and Peter Scott running sculling courses and coming up this month we have “Phil the Bag” taking place again on the weekend of the 24th/25th September. Please do support these initiatives and if you have any ideas for further fundraising please do contact Carolyn Turner ([email protected]).
I look forward to seeing lots of you back around the river after the summer break.
