Tag Archives: Kjersti Rogneflaten Woolley

Stratford’s Juniors Excel at Junior National Championships and Masters Conquer at Bewdley

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The weekend saw the British Rowing Club Championships in Nottingham with Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s juniors out in force. Held on the 2000m lake at the National Water Sports Centre, the event brings together clubs and schools from across the country over a four day period.

First to race were the J17/J18 squad. J18 single scullers Xavier Sissins-Roffey and Seth Vondrak boated first, however were unable to progress beyond the Time Trial stage. Next to go were the WJ18 double sculls of Millie Smith and Maeve Dunn plus Martha Baines and Poppy Baines. Following the time trial, the Baines sisters progressed to the E Final where they battled their way through from sixth to cross the line in third place. Moving into the second day of the regatta, the J18 boys raced again in the coxless pair. Their time trial performance earned them a place in the semi-finals where they progressed to the B-Final and a fifth place finish. In the WJ18 single sculls, Alexandra Francis recorded eleventh place in the time trial and moved forward to the semi-finals to win a place in the B-Final and sixth place overall.

Blessed with hot weather and mild winds, the following Stratford J16 crews took to the Holme Pierrepoint water on Friday: Maria Ntoukaki and Imogen de Pennington in the WJ16 1x time trial. Maria, still somewhat under the weather a D category struggled to reach a higher stroke rate, recorded a 6:36.2 time over the 1,500m (thirty second out of fifty four competitors) whilst Imogen posted a fabulous 6:13.5 (third place) which put her into the semi final AB2 around at noon, in which she came second, thereby qualifying for the A final. Maria came fifth in her F final, a really good row in the circumstances. Imogen finished sixth in a 8:30.7 time, five seconds faster than her semifinal time. Commenting, Hugo Happel, J16 Coach said, “Credit to both girls who showed grit, determination and dare in their finals.”

On Saturday, Ed Appleton sculled really well in his time trial, recording a 6:11.9 time, against seventy other 16 year old men. Sadly Ed’s great technique did not land him a final. On Sunday, it was the turn of the coxless quads, first up Seb Happel, Euan Richter, Will Shaw and Ed Appleton, followed by Orla Linforth, Imogen de Pennington, Maria Ntoukaki and Erin Appleton. Both crews sculled very well indeed and made their way into a C final later in the day. The boys’ quad came sixth in 7:15.9 and the girls came third in 7:33.4. Commenting further, coach Hugo Happel said, “Overall, a fantastic display of good technique and attitude, a credit to the Club and all came away with numerous learning points as well additional experience. Joint Coach Eric Appleton and I felt very proud of them all.”

Six of Stratford Boat Club’s J15 rowers represented the club in small boats at the Junior National Championships. In the single sculls category, Reuben Stanford finished forty eighth out of seventy six competitors, thirty three seconds behind the fastest time, while Abi Dunn rowed to forty nineth pace out of seventy six competitors, thirty sixth seconds off of first place.

In the double sculls, Bethany Hammond and Raya Hothi placed in fifty fifth places (eleven seconds off a place in the final) with fellow crew of Meredith Paul and Lily Parsons placed sixtieth (fourteen seconds off a place in the final), in a field of sixty seven competitors.

Commenting, Dave Parkin, J15 Coach said, “Although none of the J15 crews were in the top thirty six places to progress to the finals, all six athletes delivered solid performances in strongly contested races and should be proud of their achievements at a national level event.”

The J14 squad was represented at the Championships by Ethan Siwakowski (OJ14 1x), Mary Heenan (WJ14 1x). Both had great time trials given the level of competition and moved forward to F & D Finals respectively where both put in outstanding performances in their finals to finish in second place, one and a half seconds off first and fourth place respectively. Great results from the work put in over the last month especially.

Christopher Durance and Arthur Burt (OJ14 2x) and Islay Milles and Amelia Cruickshank (WJ14 2x) both had great time trails as their earlier squad members did to round off the initial rounds of the event. Chris and Arthur moved forward to their D Final with Islay and Amelia progressing to a sixth place overall in the time trials and semifinals where they also finished sixth  overall and into the A Final. In their final, Chris and Arthur had a great row which improved their seeded position to fifth, again proving that all the hard work that they have put in over the last few weeks.

Islay and Amelia had a tricky start to their A Final which was the last race of the event and had a great race from that point on to finish fourth, two seconds off the bronze medal improving their seeding by two places.

Commenting, Dawson Curnock, J14 Coach said, “Overall, a superb day for the squad with everyone making finals and all the athletes coming away with individual wins and learnings to take away into training and the next event. As a coach, I saw a great effort from everyone, not forgetting the parents that carried boats and blades throughout the day, their support is really appreciated!”

Stratford’s Masters’ squad were also in action at Bewdley Regatta: in the morning division, a composite crew of Ann Jewell from Gloucester Rowing Club, Eva Rankin from Loch Lomond Rowing Club and Claudine Pearson and Kjersti Rogneflaten Woolley from Stratford Boat Club had entered as WMasG4x drawn against an experienced Bewley women’s crew. After a good start, the crew unfortunately hit an underwater object and had to stop to recover a blade. To complete the race, they had a good row with excellent steering from Claudine, her first in a competition as bow.

In the afternoon division, Eva Rankin and Kjersti Rogneflaten Woolley raced WMasG2x against an experienced double from Evesham Rowing Club in the semifinal. After a good start and some steering challenges in the wind, they worked hard to just beat Evesham by half a length. In the final, the crew were up against a Loughborough. The Stratford double rowed well and won comfortably. Kjersti commented saying, “An amazing day that showed what masters women can do when they just want to race!”

Corinna Burger and Helen Helliwell had a strong day in their double. In their first race, a semifinal against a Hereford crew, there was some pre-race anticipation and worries about steering but once racing, they settled quickly, held a steady pace and raced with great will to take the win. The final was against tough competition: knowing the plan, they put down a confident, well-steered piece with good rhythm but just came up short on the day. Overall, a really positive outing with solid steering experience to build on for future races.

In one of her first races in a single, Rebecca England competed in the afternoon division at Bewdley regatta against Ironbridge. Despite being greeted at the start with the first rain of the summer, England settled into a good rhythm and, for the most part, managed to stay away from the bushes and shallows on the course. This allowed her to steadily pull away from her opponent and take the win. Speaking afterwards, Rebecca said, “I really enjoyed being in a 1x even though the steering was quite stressful!”

Ellie Davies and Gina Fusco raced Women’s Masters E 2x in a late afternoon with a straight final against Monmouth. A strong start enabled the Stratford crew to get into the lead which they extended over the course to take the win.

Jake Blatcher competed in Open singles in one of the first races of the day: this quarter final was against a Worcester sculler who Jake had beaten in Cardiff recently. The result was identical, a Jake win by four lengths. The semifinal was competitive for half the course before Jake’s technique began to tell with Jake going on to win convincingly. In the final, Jake was always a little faster than his Birmingham opponent: that and his superior steering resulted in a comfortable win by three lengths. A great day of racing by Jake with a well earned medal at the end of it: this was Jake’s second regatta win in a couple of weeks.

Patrick Taylor and Dan Simkins competed in the double scull and the pair categories, enjoying a great day of racing with fellow Masters rowers. They finished second in both events, missing out on the medals on this occasion.

For media coverage, see Stratford Herald page thirty seven and online https://www.stratford-herald.com/sport/stratford-juniors-show-their-potential-at-national-champions-9475966 and also Stratford Observer back sports page https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/editions/view/?/Stratford/2026/07/31&pages=32#page/32

For more great pictures of British Rowing Club Championships, see Stuart Baines’ great selection https://1drv.ms/f/c/3dd8f6a70c0cb625/IgAeHLJNQmY6QpAR9zkwCOjDAb4Hf4lMesvxfl-1T4V1rXA

Stratford Score in Scotland, Birmingham and Nottingham

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The weekend was the inaugural race at Edgbaston Reservoir for the Women’s Masters E IV of Jane Cryer, Charlotte Jones, Abby Symons and Caroline Collins.

Fabulous conditions at Birmingham Regatta helped a strong start and setting a consistent race pace of thirty four strokes per minute. The crew delivered a strong row and closed a six second headstart from the opposition, Bewdley, and lost just by a canvas. A solid start to their racing season and looking forward to building on.

The Women’s Masters E double of Ellie Davis and Gina Fusco were looking forward  to the Birmingham Regatta offering them an opportunity to practice a staked race start and side by side racing on a laned course. Their opposition an experienced  Women’s Masters D crew from Milton Keynes had a five second handicap applied . The Stratford double had a good start and got into a strong rhythm but were unable to hold off their seasoned opposition and lost by a canvas. The Stratford crew were pleased with their performance with a few good learning points to take into their future races. No medals for the duo but they did enjoy another post race ice cream!

Meanwhile Stratford upon Avon Boat Club Masters women, Kjersti Rogneflaten Woolley spent the weekend in Scotland, representing Stratford Boat Club at the Scottish Rowing Spring Regatta which took place at Strathclyde Park, the Scottish National Rowing Arena.

On Saturday, Kjersti raced in a Women’s Masters G2x composite crew with Eva from Loch Lomond Rowing Club. In very windy conditions, the duo struggled in the high tail wind but only just missed a bronze medal.

On Sunday, in better weather conditions, Kjersti competed in Women’s Masters G4x composite crew of Eva from Loch Lomond and Karen and Clare from Castle Semple Rowing Club. The crew had a great race winning gold. Kjersti said “I was so grateful for rowing with these wonderful women and having a great time in Scotland.”

Closer to home, the Junior Inter Regional Regatta once again showcased remarkable talent across one hundred and twenty nine clubs and sixteen regions. Stratford’s J15 squad were pleased to have three crews representing the West Midlands and the conditions on the day were perfect for rowers and spectators alike.

First to head out for the 1000m time trials, Connor Birrell in the Open J15 single scull event qualifying for the D final placing twentieth out of thirty two rowers on the morning in a tightly timed field with seconds separating top and bottom places. Next up was the WJ15 4+ composed of Martina Bruce, Meredith Paul, Bethany Hammond, Raya Hothi and Lillian Parsons(coxswain) and, once seats were in place, rowed well to qualify for the C final. And last, but not least, Abi Dunn representing in the Women’s J15 single scull event, delivered a composed and consistent performance, persevering through a chesty cold to come ahead of other crews.

In the afternoon, Connor Birrell set out and drove hard along the full 1.5 km course to finish ahead of Thames London to take fourth place in the D final. Stratford’s girls crew took an early start against the East Midlands and charged through to around the 1km mark with the race remaining a close-run event with Stratford battling to hold a lead with strong encouragement from their cox, eventually losing ground in the closing stages to cross the line in second place. A fantastic start to their sweep experience! Abi Dunn wrapped it all up by delivering a fifth out of six in the E final near the close of the day. J15 Coach Dave Parkin said of his J15 squad, “There was some really strong competition out there today and the crews performed well against the competition, showing they are applying their training, maintaining their composure under race pressure and are set up for good results going forward!”

The J14s were represented in both the girls’ and boys’ double sculls. Archie Eaton and Ethan Siwakowski were followed down the 1km time trial course by Amelia Cruickshank and Islay Milles. Both crews recorded solid times that saw them progress to finals that afternoon. First up were the boys who were unable to improve on their placing coming in just behind the East Midlands crew. The girls relished the opportunity to race side by side amongst six boats and held off the challenge of strong Regional boats but were similarly held to their seeded position.

For media coverage, please see Stratford Herald page forty seven and online https://www.stratford-herald.com/sport/stratford-boat-club-crews-deliver-strong-results-across-birm-9463724

Stratford Triumphs on the River, Beach and in Munich!

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After the excitement of National Junior Championships, the Stratford upon Avon Boat Club junior rowing summer calendar turned to Henley Town & Visitors Regatta for the next races. Held over 800m on the famed Henley Reach, the event always provides great racing and moreover a great relaxed atmosphere. First to go from the J14 squad was the women’s coxed quadruple scull of Sophie Franklin, Becca Smith, Martha Baines, Bryony Francis and Poppy Warren (coxswain). Competing in the J15 category, the crew made easy meat of Wallingford Rowing Club in the first round. However not to be outdone, the hunter became the hunted in the final and a second Wallingford Rowing Club crew, recent National Junior Championship finalists, took the win in the final by just four lengths over the Stratford girls.

The racing continued furiously with the WJ14 single sculls next to boat. Sophie Franklin and Millie Smith represented Stratford with great sculling in a tough headwind, both placed second in their respective semifinals and narrowly missing out on a place in the final. Challenging conditions continued for the WJ14 double sculls event where three Stratford crews competed. Bryony Francis and Martha Cooke powered their way past a quality Wallingford Rowing Club double in the semifinal whilst Martha Baines and Becca Smith booked their place in the final showing Falcon Rowing Club nothing but wake. Meanwhile in the third semifinal, Isla Dunn and Poppy Warren narrowly missed out to a quality Henley Rowing Club double. With the regatta drawing to a close, the final wasn’t quite an all Stratford affair and the Henley Rowing Club crew took full home advantage securing the win with Stratford nipping at their heels until the finish line.

Stratford’s Junior 15’s had four events to participate in, starting with Theo Richter and Ollie Rowlands in the Junior 15 double sculls. They faced tough competition from Falcon and Henley who took an early lead and kept it until the end. Richter and Rowlands did their best but could not catch up on the short course. Sadly, they did not qualify for the final.

Stratford’s J15 girls had more success in the single sculls event with Sophie Evans, Alexandra Francis, Poppy Baines and Meg Nuttall representing Stratford Boat Club. Evans raced against City of Oxford and Wallingford and, despite being more used to racing in bigger boats, she performed well and finished third. Francis and Baines competed in the second heat against Shiplake with Francis advancing to the final finishing first with Baines finishing second in their heat. Nuttall who usually coxes, tried her hand at sculling in the third heat but lost to the eventual winner of the event. In the final, Francis fought hard against Wallingford but lost by a narrow margin.

The next event was the J15 singles where Seth Vondrak faced Henley in a straight final. The two boys were evenly matched in the first part of the race but Vondrak used his experience from the British Rowing’s recent Junior National Championships to pull ahead in the middle section. He maintained his lead and won by four lengths. Finally In the double sculls event for girls, Lily Warren and Alice Jones competed for the first time as a crew. They faced Wallingford and Shiplake in their heat who were both strong contenders. Wallingford took an early lead and kept it until the end, winning the overall event. Stratford and Shiplake fought for second place but Warren and Jones overtook them at the halfway point and secured their position, finishing second.

Stratford’s J16 squad entered three crews, enjoying an early success in the double sculls when Jamie Wilcock and Will Dalrymple-Baker executed their race plan perfectly in a straight final against a Wallingford crew. The boys went off hard to open an impressive lead by halfway and maintained their composure with a two boat length advantage as they crossed the line. Next to compete was Elliot Baird in the J16 single sculls: Elliot found himself in a very competitive heat with scullers from Wallingford and Henley. A strong start saw Elliot well in touch during the early part of the race before eventually crossing the line a couple of lengths behind the other two crews in a closely fought finish. Finally, the WJ16 coxless quad of Jessica Long, Scarlett Richardson, Megan Rowan and Harriet Froom took to the water rowing up an age category against a composite WJ18 crew from Staines and Mundener from Germany. Despite a good start and clean row from the Stratford athletes, the age difference told with the very accomplished WJ18 opposition taking the win in blustery conditions.

From Stratford’s J17 squad, Charles Happel stepped up to do battle in the Senior single sculls event.  Despite remaining in contact throughout, it was not to be Charles’ day as his opponent from Upper Thames Rowing Club took full benefit of a home crowd and crossed the line first.

The weekend also saw Stratford upon Avon Boat Club masters and adaptive rowers competing against athletes from far and wide with rowers in Germany in the European Club Championships on the south coast of England at the British Offshore Rowing Championships and also at Henley on Thames for the Henley Town & Visitors Regatta.

The British Offshore Rowing Championships took place off Exmouth and attracted its largest entry with rowers from the Czech Republic, France and Germany taking part in racing over two days.

Racing commenced on Friday with Stratford rowers Andrew Morris and Tom Doherty joined by their fellow rowers Ali Martineau and Kath Coleman-Jones from the Coastal Barbarians Club racing in the mixed ability quads sculls over a 4 km course. Up against crews from Fishguard, Llandaff and Mayflower, it was going to be a closely contested race with Mayflower with two of their senior men and Sophie Harris former GB Paralympic squad member.

A good start saw Stratford/Barbarians gain a half length lead which they held to the buoy turn out to sea. Over the next two kilometres, Mayflower edged back and both crews were racing for the buoy side by side in the choppy sea conditions. At the three kilometre buoy turn, Mayflower started to edge ahead by a length but drifted off course allowing Stratford/Barbarians to close and edge ahead and gain a short lead which they held to the finish. Said Tom Doherty, crew captain, “This was Stratford’s Andrew Morris’s first experience at sea rowing and he put in an incredible performance to win a gold medal. It also shows there are no limits to what adaptive athletes can achieve.”

Stratford were not finished with Tom Doherty back on the water half an hour later for the senior Men’s 6km Double Sculls final with Robin Steward from the Mayflower Club. In a very competitive field of six crews, a good start saw the double edge into second place behind Jersey with Eastbourne neck and neck. A long side by side race ensued with Eastbourne finally pulling away at the three kilometre point. Jersey, who had been leading, began to tire and were pushed into second place as Stratford/Mayflower attempted to close on second and hold off a fast finishing Ardingly crews behind. Jersey rallied enough to hold onto second place with Stratford/Mayflower finishing in third place for the bronze medal.

Meanwhile, Stratford’s Women’s Masters were competing in the Euro Master Regatta in Munich. Stratford’s Masters Women won five gold medals and secured several second and third positions of the thirteen events entered. The races were all extremely tight with often just a second between the top three places.

Particular congratulations to Suzie Radley, who won three of the gold medals in women’s VIII; Amanda Bowden, winning a gold medal in women’s VIII; Heather Hayton, winning gold in a Mixed double and Kjersti Rogneflaten Woolley who represented Stratford across several boat classes at times combining with other clubs. All the events saw hard racing from everybody involved across the four days.

Commenting, Amanda Bowden, Stratford crew member, said, “Lining up on a start to hear the starter announce ‘Great Britain’ alongside the other international competitors was totally thrilling! It was hugely inspiring to race masters’ athletes at this level, competing against other nations and great fun catching up with previous rowing friends and making new ones! Many thanks to all our supporters, with a special mention to Dan Simkins for boat support and David Bowden for the driving to and from Munich!”

For media mentions, see Stratford Herald page forty four and Stratford Observer back sports page https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/editions/view/?/Stratford/2023/08/04&pages=24

For more great pictures of Henley Town & Visitors regatta, see Kathy Baines’ selection https://1drv.ms/f/s!AiW2DAyn9tg9j7QT6aOurkcIfval3A?e=NE1B7N

MASTERS SCORE TWO OUT OF TWO!

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Stratford upon Avon Boat Club were represented by both a mixed double and women’s double at Stourport Small Boats Head and both Masters’ crews won!

Suzie Radley and Amanda Bowden enjoyed the fast stream taking 14 minutes 34 seconds to complete the 4K course. Suzie steered a good line, grateful for the cloud cover during the race and not having to stare into the sun. There
were no crews within reach so the double focused on pushing off the crews behind.

Kjersti Rogneflaten Woolley and Gary Clay enjoyed racing in a Masters’ mixed double for the first time since last June. In the slightly flooded swirly water, they were overtaken by a Men’s junior coxed quad that started just behind them. Kjersti and Gary then managed to overtake two Masters’ women’s doubles. This set them up for clear water and a good sprint for the finish which was just enough for a narrow win!

For media coverage, please see Stratford Herald page sixty eight and Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-double-delight-for-stratford-masters and also back sports page https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/editions/view/?/Stratford/2022/11/18&pages=032

Stratford Master’s Woman Wins at Trafford Head of Bridgewater

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Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s Kjersti Rogneflaten Woolley went to race at the Trafford Bridgewater Canal on Saturday 23rd February. Trafford Rowing Club is a very friendly and welcoming club at the outskirts of Manchester.

The race is over 3200m. Kjersti raced in her single in Division One against a lady athlete from Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club. Having great respect for her opposition, knowing that she had won bronze at a recent indoor rowing competition, Kjersti set out hard, wanting to put distance between them.

This year, Kjersti was prepared for the windy conditions through the famous Budenburg Flats which occur about 500m from start and so carried on regardless. The last 1000m is a straight course and Kjersti was worried that the opposition would push hard, Kjersti put the throttle down.

Kjersti won the race by forty five seconds which was an improvement on her time from last year by two minutes and thirty seconds, although 2018 was on a blustery winter day with ice on the canal in the morning!

Kjersti said, “I was so pleased that I was able to work hard throughout the race and I am so grateful to my coach and mentor Chris Straw who has helped me to get more power into my strokes”

For media coverage, see Stratford Herald page 19 and online  http://www.stratford-herald.com/96307-stratford-boat-clubs-kjersti-storms-trafford-head-bridgwater-victory.html: see also Stratford Observer online https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/trafford-triumph-for-kjersti