Fun in Fenland (2016)

Sudbury Rowing Club had seven crews competing at the Great Ouse Marathon in Ely covering a 22km course.

Tom Horton was the first Sudbury crew to finish, in a time of 1 hour 45 minutes, winning the Novice single sculls event. Kieron Dibley also competed in the Novice Single sculls event and finished in second place in a time of 1 hour 46 minutes. The Masters G double scull of Keith Paxman and Mike Arnott also finished in a time of 1 hour 46 minutes.

The next Sudbury crew to finish, in a time of 1 hour 57 minutes, was the mixed Masters E double scull of Tracy Muir and Jeremy Milbank.

The Mixed IM3 coxed quad of Asha Thobhani, Shyam Thobhani, Nicola Porter-Vaughan, Vickie Hayton and Colin Uren (cox) finished in a time of 2 hours 9 minutes, a course record for that event. Next in the womens Masters C coxed four event was Angela Colclough, Maria Vigneau, Claire Wells, Sharon Wright and Helen Sharp (cox) in a time of 2 hours 14 minutes.

Tom Bowles competed in the mens IM2 single sculls but had to retire from the race due to injury.

The last regatta of the season was the Cambridge Autumn Regatta. The 650 metre course on a sweeping bend saw some very interesting steering but all of the Sudbury crews managed to finish their races without any dramas!

The Mens Novice coxed four of Sean Moriarty, Alan Muir, Shyam Thobhani, Tim Boyes and Michelle Risby (Cox), won their semi against Hillingdon RC. In the final they met with a Cambridge college crew from Hughes Hall who beat the Sudbury crew by one and a half lengths.

The mens Master C coxed four of Stephen Nichols, Mark Tyrie, Austin Shaw, Paul Spencer and Helen Sharp (cox) won their semi against Milton Keynes RC taking them into the final against Devil’s Elbow RC. Sudbury raced well to win by a couple of lengths.

The womens Masters C coxed four of Sophie Lovegrove, Angela Colclough, Jenny Ward, Maria Vigneau and Helen Sharp (cox) won their semi against Devil’s Elbow RC. In the final they raced XPress BC and after a very close race XPress won by half a length.

In the mens Masters E/G double sculls event, Sudbury had two crews competing. First Sean Moriarty and Tim Boyes raced against St. Ives. The St. Ives crew went on to win and met with the other Sudbury crew of Mike Arnott and Keith Paxman in the final. The Sudbury crew won by one and a half lengths.

More wins for Sudbury came from Junior 18 double scull Morgan Moriarty and Callum Power who beat Deben in the final. They also both raced in the Junior 18 single sculls event where they both made the final. After an excellent race, Power took the win over Moriarty by only a length.

Sam McLoughlin and Byron Bullen raced in the Junior 16 double sculls event, losing their heat to Peterborough.

The womens Junior 16 Double Scull of Amelia Moule and Nell Belcher had some excellent racing in one of the most popular events of the day. They won all four races , beating London Youth Rowing, Beccles, Globe RC and in the final Broxbourne. Amelia Moule also raced in the Junior 16 single scull event where she won her heat against St. Ives. In the quarter final she met with a sculler from Globe RC who beat Sudbury by one and a half lengths.

The newly formed womens Junior 15 double scull of Martha Bullen and Amelia Maskell won their heat against London Youth Rowing. In the semi they beat a crew from Putney High School RC taking them into the final against another Putney crew. This time the opposition was too strong.

The Mixed Masters C double scull of Susie and Tony Moule retained their title at this event by beating a crew from Deben. Scullers Byron Bullen, Sam McLoughlin and Martha Bullen all raced in single sculls but on this occasion didn’t make the finals.

In all, a very successful day with some very strong performances and six wins for the club.

Susie Moule.