Loughborough Boat Club
Loughborough Boat Club looks set to be represented in the Great Britain squad for the Commonwealth Regatta in August. Pauline Barrett has been selected to train in the Women’s Eight and Emily Clarke will be trialing in July for the remaining spots in the squad.
At the recent Metropolitan Regatta, held in London’s Docklands, both received a boost to their bid to represent their country. Clarke was drawn in the toughest of the two semi-finals of the Women’s Senior 2 Single Sculls over the six lane 1500m course but positioned herself well in second place to win through to the final. She then took an early lead in the final and was in front by over a second at the 500m mark. Crichton from University of London put the pressure on and pulled back level by the 1000m point but Clarke eased away again to cross the line a second ahead.
In the Women’s Elite Eights Barrett took the bow seat in the composite crew made up with rowers from Globe, Tideway Scullers, Thames, Marlow and Wallingford. They got off to a fast start and were three seconds ahead of closest rivals Oxford Brookes University by the 500m mark. They then held on to their lead to finish a length in front. The crew was out again on the second day of the regatta to repeat their success, again taking an early lead and maintaining it throughout the race.
As the Club’s Women’s coach George Jones commented "Emily and Pauline really deserve their success as they have put in a huge amount of work over the winter. We are also looking forward to seeing them perform well at Womens’s Henley this weekend".
Also appearing at a recent major event was the Club’s Katja Lange who was unlucky to just miss out on a place in the final of the Women’s J15 Single Sculls at the National Schools Regatta at Holme Pierrepont.