Wow, what a weekend! The first regatta of the season took place at Strathclyde Park in April and the squad wins speak for themselves:
J16 1x James M
J15 1x James M
J15 2x Adam and Matthew (GRC)
J16 2x James M and Idris
But, there are a few other results worth noting!
On Saturday:
- J16 1x – Idris taking silver, Ewan finishing 4th and Adam (GRC) 6th
- J18 4x – silver for James R, Idris, James M and Jamie
On Sunday:
- J18 1x – James R qualified for the final in one of the most competitive events of the weekend with 15 entries and 3 heats
- The J16 2x final coulda/woulda/shoulda been a 1-2 for the club, but for a mechanical issue off the start. Where so many others would have just chucked it after having handed the opposition a 150m start, Ewan and Jamie and quickly tried to fix the problem and they set off on what coulda/woulda/shoulda been the most impressive comeback of the regatta. The boys powered down the course and at the 250m to go, it looked like they were definitely going to pass the 3rd place crew and maybe catch the 2nd place crew – that is until the same problem occurred and the boys came to a shuddering stop. Despite having not one but two boat stopping dramas, the boys landed in good spirits and recognised that they had a stormin’ pace.
- In the Res2 4x, Ewan, Idris and Jamie were joined by Thomas McCaughtry of the seniors in what was an impressive race where the boys beat the Scottish opposition and trailed only the Belfast crew. Excellent stuff.
- In the J15 singles, Adam and Matthew went from crew-mates in the double to competitors in the singles, in different heats. Adam had a cracking row in the heat after a slightly sluggish start. He dug deep and powered through to overhaul all the opposition except James M – showing a determination that is a good sign for the future. The second heat was close, but after the half-way mark, Matthew broke clear to win his heat, overcoming some challenging conditions which put him under pressure in the last 250m. In the final, Matthew finished 4th ahead of Adam in 5th. Expect some more ding-dong battles between these two in the coming weeks!
