Loughborough Boat Club
Two Loughborough Boat Club members only needed to make the short trip to Leicester Regatta to gain their novice wins – rather less distance than each has travelled to study in the Loughborough area. Marie Gaingouian from France is at Nottingham University’s Sutton Bonington campus and Katja Lange from Germany is studying at Burleigh College.
Gaingouian was in stunning form making each race look easy as she consistently took an early lead in the three early rounds of the Women’s Novice Single Sculls. She then settled to a comfortable pace to beat off opposition from Peterborough, Derby and Weybridge. In the final she again showed off her potential with a convincing win over Busfield from Derby.
Fifteen year old Lange then teamed up with Gaingouian in the Women’s Novice Double Sculls to beat local clubs Leicester and Derby to reach the final against Northampton. The pair always looked confident and they quickly established a convincing lead, crossing the line several lengths ahead of their opponents.
As Club Captain Keith Hudson commented "At the Club’s annual dinner the evening before Leicester Regatta both Marie and Katja were given awards in recognition of their commitment to their training and their promise for the future – we are all extremely pleased that these important wins have come so soon for them".
A few days later Gaingouian confirmed her ability by coming third in the highly competitive British Universities Sports Association Championships over the 2000m course at the National Watersports Centre at Holme Pierrepont.
Two other Boat Club members gained an important achievement recently when they were selected to represent the East Midlands in the England Senior Inter Regional Championships. Sarah Mee was in the second placed Women’s Quad and Pauline Barrett was in the fourth placed Women’s Coxed Four, both crews gaining valuable points to help get the East Midlands team into first position out of the thirteen regions.