Shanklin Sandown Rowing Club arrived at the first event of the season, BTC river and coastal boats head, off the back of a strong finish to the previous season and a good winters training. The event provided evidence of this hard work, with the club coming away with two wins and two second places as well as a strong fifth place finish. The head race is a time trial event, two divisions comprising all of the events due to be raced in the up and Hants and Dorset ARA rowing season.
In the first division the club's South Coast Championship winning Ladies Novice Four earned an excellent second place, missing out on the first placed crew by just ten seconds in a time of 22 minutes 29 seconds. This is good news for the crew of Juliette Wrixon, Hannah Cusworth, Amber de Landro, Rebecca NIgh and Jaimey Wain (cox) who will look to try jump the gap to first next time out.
In the same division last years Mens Junior Pairs Champions Alex Robertson and Joe Murray took their place in the Mens Senior Pairs event after their promotion to the top category following last season. The duo raced a good debut and managed a second place finish in a time of 21 minutes 28 seconds.
One of the most impressive Shanklin performances of the day came from Harry Miselbach, who also raced in division one in the Mens Novice Sculls. The sixteen year old won his event comprehensively in a time of 22 minutes 21 seconds which upon inspection would have been fast enough to also win the Mens Junior Sculls, the next category up from his own!
In Division two, the club had its Mens Junior Four racing. After a variety of strong performances without being promoted at the tail end of last season, Joe Robertson, Matt Miselbach, Harry Hopper, Harry Miselbach and Alex Robertson (cox) were hoping for a strong finish despite a lack of time on the water in recent months. This proved to be the case as they came through to take the fifth fastest time of any crew on the day and winning their event by over twenty seconds in a time of 19 minutes 57 seconds in a strong field.
In the same division the Mens Novice Four of Dasiy Faithful (a female sit in for the crew) Tom Leaver, Henry Gove, Jaimey Wain and cox Lesley Walters achieved a fantastic fifth place finish in a field of thirteen crews in their first race together with a time of 21 minutes 59 seconds. Capping off an excellent day across the board for the club.
Without the help of Ryde and Newport rowing club Shanklin would not have been able to attend the event due to our van being out of action and the club would like to thank Ryde and Newport for their support, as well as new club sponsors Advanced Automotive who have offered to repair the clubs ageing van free of charge. The club now look forward to the Head of the Stour in two weeks time where the club hope to mirror or even improve on the excellent start to the season.
