Victory at Bewdley Regatta

Posted on July 22, 2006 | Filed under Rowing

The beautiful setting of Bewdley on the River Severn proved a rich hunting ground for Evesham’s rowers last weekend. Races at Bewdley Regatta are well worth winning as the prizes are rather smart pint-size pewter pots - the usual prize is a half-pint pot!

A handful of crews competed on the Saturday with one, the mixed four of Arian Tadjrishi, Chris Sumner, Rachel Kemp and Zara Cottrill (coxed by Sarah Fisher) beating a crew from Loughborough in a straight final at Senior IV level.

On Sunday seniors and junior boys turned out in force. The women’s senior II coxed four of Tina Bonham, Crystal McLeod, Jane Sullivan and Teresa Roberts (coxed by Robert Bonham) provided one of Sunday’s most exciting races. After winning their first heat, against a crew from Minerva Bath, the women were pitted against a crew from Laga Boat Club in The Netherlands.

If there was a book running on this race most punters would have placed their bets on the Laga women. The Laga crew had been unbeaten in all their previous races and all four were in their 20s. The Evesham crew had rowed just twice together, and contained one woman in her 20s and three in their 40s, with seven children between them. The odds didn’t look good! On the start line the Evesham crew knew they had to get a good start to be in with a chance and that’s what they got. With the tiniest of leads the Evesham crew were pushed all the way. The boats raced neck and neck down the 700 metre course and the result was by no means assured. The roar of the Evesham supporters gave the women the extra incentive needed to cross the finishing line just two feet ahead of their rivals.

Three hours later the Evesham women lined up at the start for the final against a crew from Warwick. Once again a strong start put the Evesham crew slightly ahead of their competitors. Warwick fought back in an attempt to push through but the Evesham women held them off and pushed over the line with one-and-a-quarter lengths to spare and a well-earned win.

Roberts and Bonham then hopped out of the four and into their double for a straight final against Stourport in the veteran B double sculls which they won by a length and a half.

There was another win for the mixed coxed four in a straight final against Monmouth Boat Club. While Chris Sumner had a disappointing day with a fierce battle against a competitor from Minerva Bath in the senior III single sculls. The men battled all the way down the course with the Minerva Bath boat crossing the line just a canvas ahead.

Oli Staite and Rory Sullivan, fresh from their National Championships victory, took the men’s novice doubles event with three comfortable wins and endured the traditional dunk in the river as a reward.

There were several wins for the junior boys. Terry McDonald proved that persistence and hard work pay with an easy win in the Junior 15 single sculls against a Bridgnorth competitor. At junior 16 the double of Tom Walker and Fred Hardman cruised home to an easy win against Stourport. While at J13 Lawrence Sullivan and Cameron Brodie won the double sculls event.

Comments are closed.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 22nd, 2006 at 11:13 am and is filed under Rowing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.