20 crews from the 3 Isle of Wight rowing clubs competed against each other and the clock in superb conditions at the Isle of Wight Forum Time Trial on the River Medina last Saturday (4th February).
In the 1st division, raced over 3.7km, the fastest crew of the day were the Newport Rowing Club 8 in a time of 15.34 mins – a remarkable feat considering the crew comprised a mixture of juniors and masters, men and women, including both the eldest member of the club, Chris Mullin, aged 80, and the youngest, Boris Hare, aged 15.
In the 2nd division over a shorter course of 1900m, SSRC’s Fred Giemza-Pipe and Carter Horrix in the J18 2x stormed down the course and recorded the fastest time of 6.50 min.
With such a variety of boats, ages, statuses and gender involved, it is always difficult to compare performances, so the central timer also identifies crews giving a percentage gold medal times when all variables are taken into consideration.
On this basis, in Division 1, Carter Horrix in the 1x and the Shanklin-Sandown Rowing Club’s Junior Ladies 4 of Abi Swinscoe, Frances Katirewa, Beth Katirewa and Esme Walters (Stroke) and Jane Bailey (Cox) were the top performers, with sisters Beth and Frances also combining in the Pair in the second division to gain an excellent percentage, as did Paddy Kearney from Ryde RC in the 1x.
The IOW Forum has expressed their appreciation to Martin Sturgess and Newport Rowing Club for hosting and organising much of the time trial and all volunteers who supported the running of the event.
