Loughborough Boat Club
Best ever for Loughborough crew
Loughborough Boat Club achieved their best ever performance last Saturday in the 60th Women's Eights Head of the River Race. The club's A crew managed an excellent 19th place out of the 226 entries in this highlight of the annual rowing calendar. The race is run over the same course as the Oxford v. Cambridge Boat Race but in reverse - a gruelling 4¼ miles from Mortlake to Putney.
In the crew were Tess Gaunt, Kerstine Herbert, Rachel Scott, Anna Henderson, Andrea Cole, Emily Clarke, Caroline Lomax and Sarah Mee, with cox Ruth Caswell. The conditions on the Thames were near perfect with sunshine and only an occasional crosswind leading to a record winning time of 18mins 6secs for the Great Britain squad. The Loughborough eight came home in 19mins 42secs, just 20 seconds behind Rob Roy BC who won the pennant for the best provincial crew. LBC also managed to beat the first crews of clubs such as Cambridge University and Nottingham Boat Club.
Loughborough's B crew of Ruth Amos, Hel Podmore, Emily Fawcett, Clare Wilson, Jo Coulson, Beckie Syddall, Elif Joy and Mary Carswell came home further down the finish order but also gave the club valuable points for the new National Rowing League. LBC has been placed in the women's first division based on performances last year, putting it in the top 30 clubs in the country.