A day of phenomenal performances from all Shanklin Sandown Rowing Club crews saw the club take its largest haul of wins this season at Poole Regatta last weekend.
The eleventh instalment of the Hants and Dorset season was once again hosted at Hamworthy Park, which enjoyed calm water for the entire regatta – despite the horrendous rain.
The first race of the day saw the first win. The J16 mixed quad of Scarlett Phelan, Sophie Atkin, Ethan Walters, Mia Phelan – and cox Emily Faithful – were in a combined race with the boys and girls J16 quad races. Finishing third on the course saw them beat several great quads and come home first in their category. Sophie and Mia went on to race in a composite crew with Newport in the girls event, finishing fifth.
The Men’s Novice scullers once again had heats early in the day as Joe Robertson, Henry Mudge and Jamie Gamble all went afloat in the first few events of the regatta. Joe and Jamie featured in the first heat in what was a tight race; Joe managed to take the narrowest of wins, with Jamie agonisingly missing out on a qualifying spot in fourth. Henry had a great row in the second heat, racing back from the buoy for the third qualifying spot he stamped his authority over the opposing sculler on the return leg and joined Joe in the final.
In the final, it was Joe who had the better of the 2 rows, but both scullers knew the flat conditions hadn’t helped their efforts in taking their inaugural sculling win. Joe had a battle for third place, which he won to take the final podium position with Henry finishing sixth.
The Ladies Junior Four also faced a heat in the their event. The crew featuring Mia Phelan, Lisa Robertson, Stella Gamble, Anja Bennett – and cox Alex Robertson – were drawn in a tough heat but were full of confidence after some great rows in recent weeks. Being left behind on the start and a poor turn would slightly tarnish an otherwise fantastic row from the crew that once again displayed real progress finishing right on the coat tails of the race in seventh.
The Ladies Junior Pair saw their final land in the middle of the day and the newly confirmed Hants and Dorset champions lined up against 6 other crews. In a race where they were pushed harder than usual, Daisy and Emily Faithfull fended off a good challenge from Ryde, taking a strong win by a couple of lengths.
Not content with having raced just once on the day, the duo featured later in the day in Ladies Senior Pairs to experience racing in the higher status event. A great row towards the turns had the girls turning with the race leaders and championship winners. On the return leg it was incredibly tight between Shanklin, Lymington and Coalporters. In a final dash to the line the girls defied their age and status to take the narrowest of wins to take the silverware in both ladies pairs races on the day.
Daisy’s third and final result of the day would see her win a third race as she went afloat in the Ladies Junior & Senior Sculls combined final. In unsurprising fashion Daisy led out of the starting blocks and stormed away from the field of Junior scullers. As in the previous week at Woolston, despite the race being in the bag, Daisy was pushing hard to prove a point and beat the senior scullers over the line, this week just falling short in a great race to line with a BTC senior sculler.
Sculling was a key feature of Shanklin’s day as Emily Faithfull and Ethan Walters headed for the buoy turns for their half course J16 Sculls race. Ethan had a fast start and was challenging for the win along with a Bournemouth sculler, with Emily on the outside a little further back in her first ever race. In a close finish Ethan narrowly missed out on the win to take second, with Emily not far behind in sixth.
The Men’s Senior Sculls would also see 2 Shanklin rowers entered, as Alex Robertson and Joe Evans Murray went out on the water for their straight final. Both scullers had good starts and were level with the championship battle going on at the top of the race between Itchen and BTC. By the turns Alex had moved slightly ahead and led the race in and out of the buoys. All 4 scullers headed back to the finish in close proximity, with Alex pushing on from Itchens James Foad to take a length and a halfs victory, with Joe coming home just behind BTC in fourth.
The Men’s Junior Four raced early in the day to take a comfortable heat victory, but would have to wait until the afternoon for their final. Joe Robertson, Jamie Gamble, Matt Miselbach, Harry Miselbach and cox Ethan Walters faced their usual bout with Itchen and Bournemouth the ever competitive category. In the tradition of the event, there was close racing at the top of the race. However as the turns approached Shanklin had fallen away from the intriguing battle for the win and instead found themselves fighting with a crew from the home club with the bit between their teeth! The boys dug deep and earned the final podium spot rowing away from the Poole boat in the final stages.
The final race of the day would prove to be the one of the closest of the regatta. Alex Robertson and Joe Evans Murray earned a place in their Senior Pairs final with a heat victory early in the day and took their place on the start line in the final. A furious start from the entire field on the calm course made it a close race towards the turns. Poor steering into the turns gave the duo an uphill struggle for the return leg as BTC held a lengths lead. A massive effort on the return leg from the duo had them closing in on the Southampton based club and as they pushed right on the line knowing the stagger on the finish was in BTCs favour a final lift saw them take the club’s sixth and final victory of the day by just a canvas.
