At Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s Annual General Meeting, the Club recognised the great contribution that some of their members made to the Club by awarding the special Felix Awards, a legacy from the Club’s past President Felix Badcock who gave so much to the club: the tankard trophies were won by Felix Badcock during his long career rowing and over engraved with the winner’s name and award. There were awards for the Junior and the Senior Personality of the Year

The Senior Felix Award went to Colin Bell who has put in hours and hours of unpaid time for the Club coaching both Juniors and Masters squads, launch driving and general maintenance around the Club

The Junior Felix Award went to Katie Welstead for her all round contribution on and off the water: Katie was put forward for the award because of her cheerfulness and help that she gives to all at the Club

The awards were presented by Dawson Curnock, the Club’s Chairman

For media coverage, please see Stratford Herald p15 and Stratford Observer p39

Stratford upon Avon Boat Club had a very busy Bank Holiday weekend at home and also at local away regattas

Continuing the 2018 regatta season, the action moved to Evesham where the traditional Bank Holiday weekend two day event took place over 1000m of the Avon on Saturday and 500m on Sunday. The sun shone on the event for both days however heavy rainfall earlier in the week made conditions tricky with a strong stream on the river against the racing crews.

The Stratford Masters coxed four crew of Richard Field, Richard Anderson, Graham Cann and Dave Edwards opened proceedings with a win over the host club to put them through to the semi-final. In what turned out to be one of the most memorable events of the day, the Masters lined up against a schoolboy crew some forty years their junior from Royal Grammar School Worcester. Battling hard the Stratford crew lost out by just one length with their years of experience eclipsed by the exuberance of youth!

Next up was the Junior 15 double sculls events where the boys’ crew of Fred Tyler and Max Griffiths met their match early on losing out to the eventual winners City of Oxford by just half a length. The girls’ crew of Mya Kenny and Alice Baines then stepped up to win their first heat easily but then went out in the semi-final to a strong Stourport crew, again by half a length.

The women’s Junior 14 coxed quadruple sculls event saw Sienna Rawlings, Martha Usselmann, Abbey Meggeson, Elisabeth Edwards and Mary Walton on the water. Unfortunately, the luck of the draw was against them as they went out in the first round to the eventual winners Stourport.

The men’s Junior 14 double sculls action continued the flow with the crew of Will Clarke and Conar Aitchison spoiling the day of two Pangbourne College boats on their way to the final. A great battle in the final saw them eventually succumb to City of Oxford.

Then came the women’s coxed quadruple scull of Jasmine Mountney, Nixie Brunt, Mili Wilcock, Maiya James and Naomi Sergeant. The drama unfolded with a straightforward dispatch of Abingdon in the first round and then Stourport in the semi-final. Onwards to the final and the previous races took their toll and the crew eventually lost out to Evesham.

The women’s Junior 18 double scull event proved another crowd pleaser with the crew of Issy Marsden and Issy Clarke making short work of Royal Grammar School Worcester in the semi-final. The fairy tale ending eluded them in the final when the Evesham crew pipped them to the post by just one boat length.

Said Steve Wellstead, Junior Co-ordinator, “One of the joys of regional regattas is both senior and junior crews competing at the same event. The senior squad was represented by Victoria Ward and Sian Maher in the double scull, Oliver Smith in the single scull and also a Stratford coxless pair of Harry Tarrant and Stuart Lyons. All rowed hard but lost out in the semi-finals of their respective events, no doubt taking an extra lift from the assembled club supporters on the bank.”

Closing the days racing was the women’s junior 14 double scull event with Sophie Elstone and Harriet Hodgson flying the flag for Stratford. The pair put on a dominant show winning their heats easily and then the final giving Stratford a win to round the day off with another display of superb sculling!

Stratford’s WJ14.1x (Amelie Sartain) missed out on a final place by one length and Stratford’s WJ14.8x+ had a great time with some good racing and lost out by only one and a half lengths behind City of Oxford J15 boys boat and had  two wins out of three races.

The J13 squad had a great day on Sunday at Evesham Regatta in their first ever river race. They competed in various crews in all of the boat types available to them – Octuple, Quads and Doubles.

In the Octuple, the J13 squad were beaten by the Stratford’s WJ14 squad by just two lengths and Evesham WJ14’s squads by only one and a half lengths which were fantastic results given that the J13 squad are a year younger.

Said Stratford’s J13 coach Abi Terry, “We are very proud of the way the J13 squad raced and showed immense maturity in the way they conducted themselves both on and off the river”

Meanwhile at Wallingford Regatta, Stratford’s Senior Men’s 4- had a good row and finished fourteenth quickest out of about thirty six crews but missed out on the semi-finals. Stratford’s 4+ also competed at Wallingford. Sadly the regatta at Marlow scheduled for Bank Holiday Monday had to be cancelled due to flooded car parks.

For media coverage, see Stratford Herald online http://www.stratford-herald.com/86065-stratfords-masters-pipped-post-juniors.html and page 15 and Stratford Observer online https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/hectic-holiday-schedule

For more great pictures of Evesham Regatta, please see Stuart Baines’ selection at https://1drv.ms/f/s!AgY7EiDB2lCOgppjjrEB4868Z8WPMw

Spring arrived just in time to welcome the first regatta of the season held at the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham. Previously host to World Rowing Championships last weekend, the 2000m lake played host to the Junior Inter Regional Regatta where crews representing twelve regions across the country came together vying for the coveted Victor Ludorum title. Stratford upon Avon Boat Club junior members formed five of the crews in the West Midlands squad following successful performances at the Regional Championships

As the spring sunshine fell on the lake the athletes began their preparations. First to the stake boat was Fred Tyler in the J15 single scull and a strong performance in the heats secured him a place in the A Final. Sculling well he continued to achieve fifth place overall

Next to step up was Amelie Sartain in the WJ14 single scull. A composed performance in the heats saw her miss the A Final by just a tenth of a second, such was the ferocity of competition. Amelie then dominated the B Final with a fine sculling demonstration and showed the rest of the field the way, winning by ten seconds

No sooner had the single scull action subsided, the Stratford crews were back in action with the WJ15 coxed four of Alice Baines, Mya Kenny, Nixie Brunt, Maiya James and Naomi Sergeant. In their first season of sweep rowing, the crew delivered a performance sufficient to secure a place in the A Final despite entanglement with the stake boat at the start. Regrouping, the four delivered a great row in the final and achieved sixth place overall

Onwards to the WJ14 coxed quadruple scull where Abbey Meggeson, Martha Usselmann, Elizabeth Edwards, Sienna Rawlings and Julia Gurden battled hard for their place in the finals. In the end, a stronger row second time around gave them fifth place in the B Final and provided a platform for them to work from in the events ahead

Last to race but by no means least mighty in spirit was the WJ16 coxless four of Katie Wellstead, Molly Gill-Swift, Khloe Curnock and Jess Wiesheu. Third in their heat and a faster time in the A Final, they delivered sixth place overall

Said Steve Wellstead, Junior Co-ordinator, “Such performances, and with more speed to come, bode extremely well for the Stratford crews for the regatta season ahead. Thanks to the performance of Stratford’s junior rowers and the others representing the region, the West Midlands took third place in the Victor Ludorum. A performance to be justifiable proud of and shows the strength of junior rowing across the region. Stratford Boat Club were responsible for 30 of the 189 points for the West Midlands”

For media coverage, please see Stratford Observer online https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/west-midlands-points-are-earned-by-stratford-juniors and Stratford Herald page 19

For more great pictures, see Stuart Baines’ excellent selection at https://1drv.ms/f/s!AiW2DAyn9tg9jLJen0dgZqk5OZXN8g

Five senior crews from Stratford upon Avon Boat Club travelled down to Dartmouth in Devon to compete in the annual Head of the Dart river race. The race is a processional time trial, this year running upstream from Dartmouth to Totnes over a distance of 15 km. The race attracts entries from all over the United Kingdom and some entries from Europe. Crews compete in a very varied range of coastal and river boats including pilot gigs, canoes and fine boats. Stratford Boat Club crews rowed in fine boats, more suited to calm inland river conditions.

The launching of boats was from the Higher Car Ferry slipway in Dartmouth – requiring prompt and exact timing by each crew to ensure launching between the very regular ferry crossings. Once afloat, boats travelled downstream before turning and waiting in the marshalling area in the very busy and choppy harbour for the race to start. Crews had to contend with other river craft and passenger ferries – often generating waves which breached the open top boats. This required prompt bailing out by the crews.

Once underway the race itself required a high level of skill in negotiating the numerous moored boats, navigation buoys, mud flats, river traffic as well as other competing crews. More open sections of the course were very choppy due to the wind conditions on the day. As the race progressed upstream, the river conditions became a little calmer as the river narrowed. Crews then had to negotiate a number of sharp and twisting bends before finally straightening for the last 1000m – the finish line at the Dart Totnes Amateur Rowing Club coming into view.

Top performers on the day were the Stratford/Mayflower Rowing Club Mixed Masters crew (coxless quad) of Tom Doherty, Victoria Ward, Sian Maher and a guest Mayflower Rowing Club member – winning their category in an actual time of 53 minutes and 21 seconds.

Other Stratford crews were the Men’s Masters crew (coxed four) of Richard Field, Graham Cann, Dave Edwards, Richard Anderson and Jessica Cann (cox) – actual race time of 01:00:17: the Mixed Masters crew (double scull) of Phil Marshall and Gina Fusco – actual race time of 1:01:35 got swamped before the start by a rib which went past at full speed only 20 feet away. The whole rear deck went under the waves, the footwells were full and the water was up to the slides. Luckily the crew had packed two plastic jugs, so they started bailing and after ten minutes got rid of eighty percent of the water but couldn’t get the rest out. They therefore started the race with two inches of water sloshing in the bottom, which was added to by wash from a second boat during the race, so they duly completed the course with approx 20kgs of water onboard, which had to be emptied before we could lift the boat out at the finish. Another impressive result was the Women’s Masters (single scull) of Christine Goodwin – actual race time of 1.06.59.

The women’s senior off-peak members of Rosie Stone, Andrea Duxbury, Rona Fitzpatrick, Clare Nash and Alfie Nash (cox), rowed in the Women’s Masters (coxed quad) category, competing in only their second fine boat event. Rowing without competition (time only), they recorded an actual time of 01:04:36.

Said coach Alfie Nash, “Although the event was a logistical challenge – the transportation of boats to and from the start and finish locations – it proved to be a very interesting and enjoyable challenge to all crews taking part. Those crews stopped over in Dartmouth and Totnes were able to appreciate fully the hospitality of both host clubs as well as their fellow competitors.”

For media coverage, please see Stratford Observer online https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/tough-conditions-at-head-of-the-dart. For more great pictures, see David Williams’ selection https://www.flickr.com/photos/togs42/sets/72157667867353668/with/41456226252/

The Senior Men’s squad from Stratford upon Avon Boat Club couldn’t have picked a better week to head off to a weeklong training camp in the south of France in preparation for the forthcoming regatta season.

Whilst the rain poured steadily down in Warwickshire and their colleagues scurried around readying the boathouse for the Avon flood, the squad was able to get in three training sessions a day on the beautiful River Lot at Temple-Sur-Lot, seventy miles inland from Bordeaux.

The La Base centre at Temple-Sur-Lot plays host to a number of rowing and canoeing squads from around the world. Stratford rubbed shoulders with the German and Danish canoeing teams as well as some UK squads from Bristol University and Wallingford.

Bill Sullivan, the Senior Men’s Coach said, “With miles and miles of wide flowing river to row on, the twelve athletes and two coaches covered nearly two hundred kilometers over the week’s training, slowly but surely building a common technique and rowing style ready for the upcoming regatta season.”

Said Oliver Smith, Captain of Boats, “Although the athletes put in major effort over the week, our coaches Bill Sullivan and Colin Bell did all the work arranging our training programme and schedule and spent weeks planning our stay.”

Dr Ben Twiney, Senior Men’s Vice Captain commented, “It is so good to be part a squad with so much dedication and determination. We’re also most grateful to Oli for towing our huge trailer to and back from our training camp. Our special thanks also go to our cox Amie Jones who put up with fourteen blokes for more than a week!”

For media coverage, please Stratford Observer online https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/better-training-conditions-put-senior-men-in-great-place and Stratford Herald page 16 and online http://www.stratford-herald.com/84410-training-camp-leaves-rowing-squad-great-shape.html

Following the excitement of Schools’ Head, Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s younger squads took on competition from around the United Kingdom at the Junior Sculling Head held over 3600m on the Olympic Lake at Eton Dorney. Fortune smiled on all competitors with conditions much improved over the previous day on the Tideway.

First to race was the women’s J15 coxed quadruple scull of Jasmine Mountney, Maiya James, Mili Wilcock, Mya Kenny and Naomi Sergeant (coxswain).  Powering up the course the crew started well and held their rhythm through the first leg of the event. Continuing the push through the second leg the crew battled hard earning themselves 29th place of the 62 crews entered.

Next up was the women’s J14 coxed quadruple scull of Abbey Meggeson, Martha Usselmann, Sienna Rawlings, Elizabeth Edwards and Julia Zampronio Gurden (coxswain). Said Steve Wellstead, Stratford’s Junior Co-ordinator, “The crew showed tremendous grit and composure in their first outing on the national stage despite last minute crew changes due to illness. A solid row over both legs of the course was enough to secure them 27th of the 48 crews entered.”

Each year the weeks preceding Easter see selection trials for the West Midlands Junior rowing squad. The ‘Beast from the East’ thwarted the main event in Stourport and selection trials were rescheduled to run at Worcester in a two leg time trial format racing ran both with and against the significant Severn stream making the event a real test of boatmanship. Stratford’s young athletes coped admirably and put in some terrific performances across the board. In the end the margins were close and steering on the upstream leg proved crucial.

The Stratford upon Avon Boat Club Junior Squad came away with two wins on the day from Fred Tyler and Amelie Sartain which when combined with prior selection events gives Stratford five crews representing the West Midlands. Steve Wellstead said again,”This makes Stratford the most successful club at the West Midlands Trials, a superb achievement and one of which we are all very proud.”

The following athletes will wear West Midlands’ colours at the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta in April: Amelie Sartain, Fred Tyler, Katie Wellstead, Molly Gill Swift, Khloe Curnock, Jessica Weisheu, Maiya James, Nixie Brunt, Mya Kenny, Alice Baines, Naomi Sergeant, Abbey Meggeson, Martha Usselmann, Elizabeth Edwards, Sienna Rawlings and Julia Zampronio Gurden.

For media coverage, please see Stratford Observer online at https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/quieter-waters-for-successful-junior-sculling-head-and-west-midlands-trials and Stratford Herald page 17

Stratford upon Avon Boat Club entered two Girls Junior 16 year old crews in The Schools’ Head of the River Race on 12th March. The prestigious annual event is run over the Oxford and Cambridge boat races course in reverse from Mortlake to Putney with the stream.

This was the first experience of racing on the Tideway for both crews and it was particularly challenging for the coxswains steering the coxed four Mimi Hill and Talei Dunn steering the coxless quad from the bow seat. They both did a sterling job by staying in the stream and resisting challenges from other coxes trying to gain advantage by pushing them into slower water.

In the coxless quad regular J16 squad members Jess Weisheu, Autumn Keil and Talei Dunn were joined by J15 Alice Bains rowing up a year, who sculled with great skill and determination. The crew’s superb technique and powerful rhythm resulted in a highly creditable 7th place out of 18.

The coxed four of Katie Wellstead, Molly Gill-Swift, Khloe Curnock, Emily Browne and coxswain Mimi Hill got off to a flying start overtaking the crew in front by Barnes Bridge. They dug in for the long haul to Hammersmith Bridge holding off a challenge from Kingston and Emanuel. The girls held their composure in a superb display of sweep rowing to a strong finish as Kingston just edged past in the final 500 meters to take the win on time ahead of Emanuel in second and Stratford in third place.

Said Stratford’s coach Sam Hill, “The Schools’ Head is the first national event of the 2018 season and both crews measured exceptionally well against strong opposition crews, many rowing on their home water. Clearly the long winter training is paying off and the J16 squad has the potential to perform very well in 2018.”

Stratford’s sister squad King Edward the Sixth Grammar School also took part with both girls’ and boys’ crews.

For media coverage, see Stratford Observer online at https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/stratford-impress-at-schools-head-of-the-river-race and Stratford Herald online at http://www.stratford-herald.com/83849-hard-work-pays-off-stratfords-junior-crews.html and p15.

For more great pictures of The Schools’ Head of the River Race, see Stuart Baines’ selection https://1drv.ms/f/s!AgY7EiDB2lCOgo9bT5xJEeDFGKNveQ

Indoor training for Stratford Boat Club’s J14 squad reached a milestone with the presentation of Concept 2 100,000m Distance Awards.

During the winter months, the squad’s indoor training on the club’s Concept 2 ergometers (indoor rowing machines)increases as weekday land training complements the weekend water-based activities.

In the last six months, squad members have individually rowed in excess of 100,000m and the Distance Awards acknowledge the training they have undertaken.