Competing in the Great Ouse event
THREE crews from Loughborough Boat Club have competed in the annual ‘Great Ouse Marathon’, a rowing race starting at Denver Sluice near Downham Market and finishing at Ely.
Boats are started at approximately 60-second intervals and are timed over the 21.6km course.
Over 100 boats from 41 rowing clubs took part, travelling from from as far afield as Newcastle and Bideford, to take on this significant and unique challenge. It is rare to find such a length of navigable river in the UK, without locks or weirs, so this is a good chance for crews to test their endurance and fitness.
Loughborough Boat Club already holds three all time ‘course records’ for this event in various boat categories but this year a direct southerly headwind significantly slowed down all the boats and put new records out of reach. However, there was everything to race for in individual categories, with Loughborough’s Masters Double Scull of Mike Targett and Scott Ferris setting off as the first LBC crew down the course, closely followed by Scott’s daughter Hannah and her rowing partner Matilda Haines in the open Women’s Double Scull.
The third Loughborough boat was a Mixed Eight, with a split of male and female rowers, racing against similar boats from Cambridge’s Chesterton Rowing Club and Peterborough City. The Loughborough crew, coxed by former Welsh International Rachel Harris and stroked by Vicky Haines, soon chased down Peterborough’s one minute head start, overtaking them at around the 5km marker. At the same time they initially held off a strong challenge from Chesterton who gradually gained from behind. However, the Loughborough crew were unable to match the efficiency of Chesterton, who finally overtook after 75 minutes, at the 15km mark. But with overall position still at stake, Loughborough maintained a determined effort to finish a very respectable 31st out of 109 in a time of 1 hour 48 minutes, faster than many younger crews.
Hannah and Matilda came home in an impressive 1 hour 55, second in their class, in spite of deciding to stop briefly to retrieve one of their matching and very striking hats which had unfortunately blown off in the wind, whilst Mike and Scott finished just 5 minutes behind after suffering some severe blistering to the hands but bravely completing the course regardless.
Loughborough Boat Club Mixed 8: Rachel Harris (Cox), Vicky Haines (Stroke), Kate Henry, Jerry Heygate, Charlie Henry, Jonathan Cox, Emily Quinton, Sandra Martin, Jen Smith (Bow).