Town represented in Canada

LOUGHBOROUGH Boat Club regularly compete at regattas throughout England, but club rowers Mike Targett and Jen Smith recently went one step further by representing Loughborough in the Canadian Cascadia Masters regatta in Vancouver.

The Loughborough Boat Club flag flying in the regatta marquee prompted many questions from the crews from Canada and USA, in particular on how to pronounce the club’s name!

Mike and Jen are both members of staff at the University of Nottingham’s Veterinary School based at Sutton Bonington. Their visit to Vancouver was occasioned by an invitation to the wedding of Dave McCaughan, a former Loughborough Boat Club member, and his Canadian bride Andrea Bundon. The couple had met at the rowing club whilst Andrea was undertaking a two-year research post at Loughborough University.

The Vancouver regatta has a connection with Loughborough because it is normally held on Vancouver’s Burnaby Lake, named after Robert Burnaby (1828-1878) who was born in Woodthorpe and is buried in Emmanuel Church, Loughborough.

Unfortunately due to excess weed growth Burnaby Lake could not be used on this occasion so the regatta was relocated to the nearby Deas Slough, to the south of the city.

Jen and Mike raced as the crew of a mixed double scull and Mike also competed solo in the single scull category. In addition, Jen was invited to row in a quadruple scull with three members of the Delta Deas Rowing Club, the host club for the regatta.

Jen and Mike were perhaps distracted by the breathtaking experience of rowing in stunning scenery with bald eagles circling overhead, so they did not finish in any of the podium positions, but they were generously presented with regatta medals for the crew who had travelled the furthest!