Ryde Newport and Shanklin Sandown Rowing clubs made the short trip to Southampton for the Itchen Imperial Rowing Club Regatta on Saturday (27th May).
The regatta was held over a 1400-metre course on the river Itchen, where crews and scullers compete in 3 boat races usually involving heats and a final for each event type.
RYDE ROWING CLUB
In the Men’s Coastal Junior 4, the Ryde A Crew of Bradley Whiting, Ben Sanderson, Will Hunt and Paddy Kearney with a borrowed Poole Coxswain, were unfortunate enough to come up against the current championship leaders from Southampton in their heat whom they just lost to in a very close race. The Ryde Coastal Junior B Crew of Matt Chambers, Charlie Watts, Isaac Gibson, and Dan Sanderson coxed by Joe Bird also rowed well to finish 2nd in their heat.
The Ryde Men’s Coastal Junior Pair A Crew of Will Hunt and Paddy Kearney rowed well to win their heat but could only manage a 2nd in their final. The Men’s Coastal Junior Pair B Crew of Dan Sanderson and Charlie Watts could only manage 3rd place in their heat in a close race, and the Men’s Coastal Double of Isaac Gibson and Charlie Watts narrowly missed out on the final finishing 2nd in their heat.
The Smith brothers – Joel and Austin – where Joel now competes for Poole Rowing Club where he now lives, raced in a Poole/Ryde Composite boat – and also finished 2nd in their heat.
The Ryde Ladies’ Coastal Junior Pair of Chloe Hughes and Stella Baisley will be disappointed with their performance finishing 3rd in their heat.
In the Men’s Coastal Junior Single Sculls, Ben Sanderson could also only manage a 3rd place in another close race while Men’s Novice Sculler Dan Sanderson finished 2nd in his heat – the same result that Stella Baisley achieved in her Novice Ladies Sculling race.
NEWPORT ROWING CLUB
The Newport Men’s Novice crew of Will Loveday-Powell, Connor Garner, Boris Hare, Artur Rozvodovski – coxed by Marianna Hare – were disappointed to finish 3rd in their heat.
The 3 younger crew members – joined by Hayden Tiffin – bounced back though, as they came close to beating the home club in the J16 race. The lead changed hands several times throughout the race, with the crew and cox keeping their composure to stay in the race, but they just lost out by a canvas to Itchen on the line.
Newport Novice scullers, Connor Garner and Julie Clarke, both lost out in their heats. After a solid 1st half of the race, they both struggled to make the turn quickly enough to give themselves a chance of qualifying for the finals.
SHANKLIN SANDOWN ROWING CLUB
Shanklin Sandown Rowing Club had 3 crews at Itchen regatta, where Beth and Frances Katirewa finished in the runners up spot for the 2nd successive regatta in the Ladies pair, losing out to the home club by a couple of lengths.
The Ladies Junior 4 of the Katirewa sisters, Esme Walters and Stella Gamble – despite an excellent row – lost out at the semifinal stage against current championship leaders from Lymington, whilst the master’s 4 of Paul Gamble, Stella Gamble, Andrew Tapsell and Gary Burch enjoyed another excellent row to finish 3rd in their final.
