Loughborough collect haul of medals from Burton regatta
A SMALL contingent of boats from Loughborough Boat Club took part in the annual Burton Head Race on the first Sunday in October.
This race sees boats of all categories undertaking a 3.5km time trial in two divisions. There was glorious sunshine for both divisions, but after recent heavy rain the River Trent was in flood with a very fast stream and strong blustery winds.
Fortunately, the race was downstream with a tail wind for most of the course and these conditions made for exhilaratingly fast speeds.
The main event of the day for Loughborough was the “Clash of the Titans”, a showdown between two of the club’s Mixed Masters Eights, with the two crews naming themselves as “Termin-eightoar” and “Altern-eight-oar”. The Eights consisted of equal numbers of men and women with an average crew age of between 55 and 60 years.
The Terminator was founded during lockdown and is the more seasoned crew having been practising for some time. Vicky Haines sets the pace from the Stroke seat admirably backed up by Emily Quinton, Paul Corrigan, Jonathon Cox, Phil Gunning, Jen
Smith and last-minute injury substitutions Zoe Hudson and Tom Haines. The Haines family compliment was ensured by Matilda Haines as cox, steering aggressively and making the most of her chance to shout at her parents and whip the crew into a frenzied pace.
The Alternator crew is less settled and newly formed but no less determined to uphold the club honour. Seasoned rowing partners Andy (Walrus) Martin and Nick Maker led the crew from the stroke pair, being backed up by Natalie LaValley, Sandra Martin, Karen Senior, Di HopeCockayne, and in the middle seats Roger Thompson and Mark Stafford enjoying the fun of racing for the first time.
Both crews raced well and produced good times, but the more experienced Terminator crew took the honours demonstrating that lengthy training does indeed help in bringing home the medals!
The other medal winner for Loughborough was Phil Gunning who valiantly fought though the difficult weather conditions in his single scull at Masters F category. Despite being a seasoned rower this was his first ever success in a single scull, and was much deserved. Mike Targett in the Masters E category could not match Phil’s achievement and despite a faster time only managed second in his own category. The wind was so strong that it had even removed Mike’s moth-eaten and very faded “lucky” rowing cap just before the start but much to the dismay of Mike’s wife he managed to row backwards fast enough to retrieve the soggy headwear from the Trent before it sank.
The four ladies from the Terminator also entered a Coxless Four.
This was an opportunity for them to show off the club’s new boat “The One 40”, named in celebration of the Loughborough Boat Club’s 140th anniversary in 2021.
The ladies submitted an impressive time, but with no opposing crews entered in the same boat category they could not be awarded medals.
The final boat to race from Loughborough was the Open Quad of Neil Martin, Jonathon Cox and John Scott (another member of the club experiencing racing for the first time), with Julie Palin (a former club member, called in as a last minute substitute).
This completed an enjoyable day for the club, with the positives of new oarsmen, a new boat, and two Eights, being rewarded by a haul of medals.