Upper Thames Small Boats Head (28 October 2007)
The whole OUWLRC squad headed to Henley on a damp Sunday for what was for many of the girls their first opportunity to race for the club, and to have a taster of the Boat Race stretch. We took a quad, two coxed fours and a double down the Upper Thames Head course twice.
The morning division gave one of the coxed fours (Caris, Linda, Rose and Georgie, coxed by Becky Donaldson) a chance to race some truly worthy opponents in Men’s Senior 3. After a heroic 13:21.34 minutes, the crew crossed the line faster than three men’s crews! The other coxed four (Ruth, Becky Hunt, Suki and Sophie Knight, coxed by Matt) showed real grit and determination which paid off with a win in the Novice category with a time of 14:37.85 minutes. The quad (Cornick, Debs, Emma and Emily) came a very very close second in Women’s Senior 2, being three hundreths of a second slower than the winners. The double, consisting of two members of the legendary 2007 Lightweight Blue Boat (Tracy and Millest) came 5th in Women’s Senior 3.
The afternoon saw more of the same. The quad came in second again, this time by a second. Not content with beating men, the coxed four went on to beat lots of women, coming third in Women’s Senior 3, with the other coxed four not far behind. And the double won their category!
So with tired legs and medals, we retreated to Caris’ house for some good food and to reflect on a good days racing and preparation for the Fours Head the following weekend.
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