Established crews were entered alongside new combinations with a mix of new and experienced members putting in pleasing displays. The men’s intermediate 1 coxless quad comprising of Dale Bunning, Reuben Mortimore, Simon Kett, and Daryl Breakwell, began the wins for the weekend, beating Warrington in the first round, in spite of one of the crew getting his blade caught in the water in the last 250 metres. They then beat their Grosvenor opponents by a convincing three lengths in the final.
The other Saturday winner was Patrick Brown, who lost his novice status in the men’s single sculls with a win over Monmouth in the final after having got through several heats using a mixture of good technique and clever steeing to beat his opponents.
The club also got two wins on the Sunday. There were two Intermediate three coxed eights entered for the 500 metre sprint course, with the B crew losing in a close race to Stourport in the semi final.
In the other half of the draw, the eight comprising of Chris Thomas, Phil Wood, Matt Walker, Richard Shropshire, Simon Kett, James Griffin, Andrew Cropper and Daryl Breakwell, used their superior power to get past Ross and City of Bristol in the heats. Cox Emma Walker, who has only been coxing for a few months, steered a perfect course in all their races.
The A crew then got the club’s revenge on the Stourport eight by beating them by over one length in the final. Emma also coxed one half of this eight (J. Griffin, S Kett, P. Wood and C. Thomas) to victory in the men’s intermediate 3 fours with a win over Worcester RC in the final.
This double victory saw many members of the crew were picking up their first points for the club and joined Pat Brown in loosing their novice status. The club also had two other fours in the same event, showing the rise in numbers that the club is now enjoying.
The club also has a growing women’s squad, many of whom had their first race at Bridgnorth the week before. The club entered an eight and a four both days even though many of the crew members have only been rowing for a few weeks.
They put in a strong performance over the long 1,000 metre course on the saturday, loosing to Liverpool Victoria in the eight.
The crew kept pace with Liverpool for most of the course, only really loosing out on the start where the experiance of their oppenents told. On the Sunday, they pushed the same opponents hard, only loosing by a canvas.
The club left the weekend happy with the number of wins, but also with the fact that all the crews put in a good performance that reflected well on the club and has set a good benchmark for the rest of the season.
