Be part of a fabulous team that keeps our rowers safe on the water. Much easier to learn than you might think….find out more.

Wins

WJ15 2x Junior Women Double Scull – Won by 1 1/4 lengths by Esme Booth and Rachel Stratton vs Ross.

WJ15 4x+ Junior Women Quad – all SuABC final – Won by a length and 3/4 by Rachel Stratton, Rianna Ngombe, Ellie Whitehead, Lamorna Jarvis and cox Becky Stokes vs Milly Flambert, Jessica Cann, Grace Harkin, Laura Tiller and cox Jasmine Key.

WJ16 1x Junior Women’s (16 yrs) Single Scull – Won by 3 lengths by Phoebe Winter  vs Worcester.

Mx IM2 2x Mixed Intermediate Double – Won by 2 1/2 lengths Imogen North and Ed Lewry competing together for the first time vs Hereford.

Mx IM2 4+ Mixed Four – all SuABC final – Won by 3/4 length by Simon Picken, Ollie Smith, Maddie Gardner, Grace Lodge and cox Conrad Bird vs Cassie Bird, Georgia Holden, Peter Simmons, Joshua Danks-Smith and cox Becky Stokes.

The eight members of our intrepid Explore Rowing Touring Crew took a hugely disrespectful three hours and fourteen minutes to row the twenty one miles of the Great River Race course on Sunday 15 September.

“We were rowing a very heavy Cornish Pilot Gig and I think spending the night before in the pub lent a certain relaxed style to our performance on the day!  It is probably fair to say we had a troubled race with at least four collisions on the way to the start line and five other collisions during the race itself, only one of which was our fault!  We swerved to miss a boat full of Danish pixies in smurf hats and locked oars with a crew who were dressed as Irish leprechauns: it was all a bit surreal!”

said Ray Coyte, Explore Rowing Recreational Crew Captain.

SuABC Explore Rowing Touring Crew
in The Great River Race

The crew (Stephen Rose, Richard Nelson, Ian Scott, Lorraine Mackey, Linda Casement, Ruth Winter, Tom Doherty and Ray himself) enjoyed waving to the twenty thousand spectators or so who watched the race from the bridges of London: rowing seems to have taken a bit of a backseat!

Glyn Hawkins, Stratford’s Masters’ Vice Captain, who had been training the team throughout the summer for the race was very proud of them.

Next year they plan to row the Vogalonga [‘long row’] 30km race in Venice, do another Channel crossing to France (thirty two miles) and see if they can maintain their Great River Race triumph! If you are interested in this type of madness, sorry fun, and building your stamina and fitness, please do Contact Us to find out more.

Camilla Hadland (2nd from the left), Club member and President of Durham University Boat Club, won gold in a coxless four at the 8th European University Sports Association Rowing Championship in Poznan, Poland on 14/15 September. If you rowed at university and want to start again, why not join SuABC?

The Explore Rowing Touring Crew had a great time in the 21 mile Great River Race on 15 September. The team of eight survived several collisions and near misses with Smurfs and Leprechauns, nothing to do with their pre-row warm-up in Teddington the night before. They started on one of our Learn to Row courses – why not join them?  Read the full story…

SuABC performed well in the British Rowing Junior Championships at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham.

Thirteen members of the junior squad formed six crews, three of which progressed through the time trials to qualify for the A and B finals.

Imogen North produced tremendous rows in both her semi-final and final to capture a bronze medal for finishing third overall in a hotly contested WJ15 single scull event.

Cassie Bird and Phoebe Winter made the top 12 to row in the WJ15 double sculls B final in which they finished fifth.

Georgia Holden and Ellie Wells, in a composite WJ16 Four with rowers from Evesham, came through an eliminator round to finish sixth in the final.

Stratford’s other three crews all put in great performances and missed out on qualifying for the finals by the narrowest of margins.

They were Africa Jones (WJ14 single scull), WJ14 quadruple scullers, Rachel Stratton, Rianna Ngombe, Ellie Whitehead, Lamorna Jarvis and cox Becky Stokes and the men’s J16 double scull pairing of Franklin Hamilton and Harry Stirling.

Jones was edged out by just 0.4 seconds, while Hamilton and Stirling went on to win their C final comfortably.

Coach Mark Holden was also presented with a medal as acknowledgement for all the time and effort given to his crews.

A delighted Holden said:

“Being presented with a medal was a surprise as it is the athletes that do the real work!

However, it is an acknowledgement not only for me but for all the coaches and helpers for the time and effort that give to their crews.

All of us at Stratford are delighted that the crews have done so well especially as Stratford is run by volunteers.

To win bronze at the BritishChampionships is a great end to a very successful year for all and well deserved.”

Article taken from the Stratford Observer 1/8/13

On 2nd September, a year to the day since winning Gold at the Paralympics, James Roe MBE joined members to welcome three new boats, including one in his name. He is seen here with (left to right) Club Captain, Jen Clements, Masters’ Vice Captain, Glyn Hawkins, Club President, Felix Badcock and the Mayor, Diane Waldon. Read the full story in the Stratford Herald.

Sunday 12th May was the first time out for many SuABC Juniors and they rose to the occasion. The J13x4 (Max, Isaac, Darcy (cox), Conrad & Ben) came 3rd! Our more experienced rowers also excelled and there were medals aplenty…full results coming soon.

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Stratford upon Avon Boat Club

The Channel Rowers Return!

After a number of delays due to poor weather conditions, the Stratford upon Avon Boat Club Channel rowers finally got clearance to attempt the crossing on last Friday morning.

Said Ray Coyte, crew captain,”We set off from Dover at just after 6am. The weather conditions were perfect with a flat sea, clear skies and only a slight wind. The boat felt very heavy and slow to begin with and it seemed to take ages to get away from the coast. At times, it felt as if the tide was just holding us back. There was a lot of shipping around us in mid channel and at one point we had to make an alteration of course to steer around and behind a West bound ship. Up close, you realise how fast they travel and how slow we were.”

“Rowing in heavy waterproofs and lifejackets was horrible and after a few hours we were all beginning to wonder if this was a good idea,” said Ruth Winter, crew member. “The sea started to build up just before the half way point and at times we found ourselves in some very choppy water that was throwing the boat all over the place. We found it hard to row through the rough water as we just could not settle into a steady rhythm and every time the boat hit a wave, it slowed us right down. It was never overly dangerous but we did get the odd wave slop over the side. As you can imagine, the problem was that you either had an immensely heavy oar to pull on or the oar was just missing the water completely! We all got a big boost when we passed the mid channel marker. Approaching the French coast was tough as it just seemed to take ages. The sea started to get really rough off Cap Gris-Nez and we really struggled to finish the row off.”

Said Jen Clements, Club Captain, “The Channel Rowers completed the crossing in a very respectable five hours and fifty eight minutes. They are all feeling a bit stiff at the moment but not too bad! Between them, they raised several thousand pounds for charity and they all, quite rightly, feel chuffed to bits! Stratford upon Avon Boat Club is very proud of our Channel Rowers and what they have achieved!”