Peterborough Spring Regatta

By Sarah Watson

Peterborough spring regatta was a massive success once again this year, with athletes travelling from as far as Northern Ireland to compete over Peterborough’s 1000 metre rowing course. Over the weekend Peterborough scullers took home an impressive 16 wins and 11 second places.

Keely Watson and Claire Widdowson both got 3 pots over the weekend, after joining forces with Bianca Manganiello and Sarah Watson to win the Women’s band 1 coxless quad on both days, and on the Sunday they joined Anna Robotham and Gina Gould to win the Women’s Masters A coxless quad.

There were also many club member that took home 2 pots from the weekend, including Harriet Drake-Lee who won both the Women’s band 1 single and Women’s Band 1 double on the Saturday. In her single she won by 5 seconds ahead of a St George’s College sculler, and in the double she joined Patti Mullen from Belfast Rowing club to win by an impressive 10 second lead.

Devonne Piccaver and Alice Dovey also took home 2 pots after winning the Womens J18 single with an impressive 11 second lead, and they also joined Emma Calver, Sophie Bicknell, Lottie Tasker, Erin Ansell-Crook, Wiktoria Szubzda, Kaia Campo and cox Harry Evison-Williams to win the Women’s Band 2 eight.

Emma Calver also won her second pot in the Womens J16 single with an impressive 10 second lead.

Also with success in his single was Matt Hand who won the J18 single by 10 seconds ahead of Bedford rowing club. He also joined forces with Bert Papworth to win the J18 double by another 10 second lead.

Anouk Bosma and Emma Dennis also left with 2 pots each after winning the Women’s J15 double by 16 seconds ahead of

Northampton rowing club, then they joined club mates Jasmine Chesher, Evelina Xanthropoulou and Hannah Fitzjohn (cox) to win the Womens J15 coxed quad by 11 seconds ahead of Star rowing club.

Jasmine Chesher won a second pot after winning the Womens J14 single, crossing the line just 2 seconds ahead of York City rowing club.

Sergio Read Moreira Lima and Oliver Barber did well in the J16 double after winning their final with a 15 second lead ahead of Leeds Rowing club.

Ian Palmer and Dave Smith (Leicester rowing club) did exactly the same, after winning the Open Band 1 doubles with an impressive 15 second lead ahead of Leeds Rowing club.

The last win came from the Masters D eight on the Sunday, when Tracey Rushton-Thorpe coxed Ruairi Moore, David Wells, Iain Cameron, Ondrej Cervinka, Alastair Brown, David Gray, Steve Akerman, David Elks to win by 3 seconds ahead of Cambridge 99 rowing club in a nail-biting final.

There were many crews who just missed out on a win over the weekend and instead took second place. These crews were: Ella Darrington and Sophie Pepper from Bewl bridge rowing club (Women’s Band 1 doubles); James Garfield and Nick Bosma (J18 double); Wiktoria Szubzda and Erin Ansell-Crook (Women’s J18 double); Ian Palmer and Dave Smith from Leicester Rowing club (Open Band 1 doubles); Tim Ellis (Masters E single); Devonne Piccaver (Women’s Band 1 singles); Al Ryder (Masters D single); Erin Ansell-Crook, Lottie Tasker, Sophie Bicknell and Wiktoria Szubzda (Women’s band 1 coxless quad); Roger Carlisle, James Baile, Paul Scutts and Barry McCann (Masters E coxless quad); Sarah Watson and Bianca Manganiello (Women’s Band 2 doubles) and Thomas Calver, Nick Bosma, Rob Dennis, Dean Gosling, James Ryder, James Garfield, Linda Dennis, Joshua Seagrave and cox Hannah Fitzjohn (Open Band 2 eight).