Loughborough Boat Club
Loughborough Boat Club got the biggest cheer of the day at Northwich Regatta on Bank Holiday Monday, not so much for rowing but for stopping!
The Club's mixed eight of Mary Carswell, Jo Coulson, Claire Wilson, Caroline Lomax, Andy Martin, Keith Hudson, Neil Martin and stroke Simon Hill, coxed by Charlie Horner had won through to the final of a new £500 prize money 350 metre sprint challenge in a nail biting semi-final. They went off to a blistering start neck-and-neck with Irish club Carlow, but the Loughborough crew kept the rating high and managed to pull ahead to win by just one foot. They were then straight back to the start to face home club Northwich in the final. Again the Loughborough crew got off to a fast start and were edging into the lead when, after only ten strokes, one of the Northwich crew 'caught a crab' and the force on the oar broke a rigger, bringing the Northwich boat to a standstill.
Despite the lure of the £500 prize money and to the appreciation of the crowd the Loughborough crew pulled up and offered to re-row the race. Their sporting behaviour earned them the loudest cheer of the day and the crowd's support in the re-row. Northwich, now in a replacement boat, still couldn't gain an advantage off the start. The Loughborough crew pulled away, maintained their early lead and crossed the line to win by a canvas.
Club Captain Keith Hudson said 'We're glad we offered to re-row as it would have been a hollow victory otherwise. The support from the crowd was tremendous and really spurred us on in the final race. We always intended to treat it as a fun event and winning the £500 is a superb bonus for the Club. Our veteran rowers are planning the Club's first ever visit to the World Masters in Belgium at the beginning of September so it is great to win an open competition like this with a veteran crew. '
Whilst the mixed eights provided the best spectacle of the day, it wasn't the only high spot for Loughborough. The Women's Coxed Four of Mary Carswell, Jo Coulson, Claire Wilson and Caroline Lomax, coxed by Charlie Horner, achieved a hat trick by adding the Veteran B Fours and the Senior 2 Fours to their Mixed Eight victory - beating home club Northwich in each of their finals. The Men's Coxed Four of Andy Martin, Simon Hill, Chris Logan and Keith Hudson, also coxed by Charlie Horner, were side by side with Bewdley in the Veteran B final only to miss out by just 0.6 of a second at the finish line.