Rowing
Hosts have plenty to celebrate at Evesham Regatta

THE REARRANGED 2012 Evesham Regatta took place in glorious weather on Saturday as more than 125 different crews competed over the 1,000m course on the River Avon.

Evesham Rowing Club members produced a number of excellent rows, resulting in them winning 14 events and a further 15 crews making finals.

The morning session saw the first victory of the day which came in the WIM3 coxed four, with success for Emma Attwood, Helen Morris, Kate Grundy and Erin Atkinson, coxed by Alex Bartram.

They overcame another crew from Evesham in the final, having seen off a Warwick crew previously. This race saw Kate and Erin end up in the river as it is traditional for rowers who win an event for the first time and therefore their 'novices' to be thrown in.

This was followed by another all-Evesham final in the WJ18 coxless quad in which the crew of Lydia House, Lauren Caddy, Ellie Smith and Bessie Stelnicki came out on top.

In the men's novice 1x two Evesham rowers came through a number of rounds to face each other in the final and it was Alex Staite who overcame Joe Lord with a confident row. Like the ladies earlier, this result saw Alex end up taking a dip!

The J16 double scull saw James Mackins and Luke Towers put in a couple of strong performances to take the victory and secure a swim for Luke as well.

In the afternoon session victories came more frequently with Rhia Woodford and Rosie MacDonald starting the ball rolling in the WJ15 double scull, overcoming two different crews to win in style.

Flo Pickles and Jas Bradley were able to control their three races to record a victory against another Evesham crew in the WJ18 double scull. This meant Flo was the next Evesham rower into the Avon.

In a race that was altered to assist another club, the WJ16 crew of Katie Griffiths, Lydia House, Iona Foister and Bessie Stelnicki rowed with great confidence to record a victory.

In a very close WJ16 coxless quad, other members of the WJ15 and 16 squad - Maddie Baker, Frances Russell, Ellie Smith and Lauren Caddy - showed determination and focus to record a win. This resulted in both Maddie and Frances being 'helped' into the river.

The next victory came in the Mixed IM3 double scull where, in an all-Evesham final, Chloe Farrar and Josh Rogers put in a strong performance to win.

Liam Tustin and James Waterhouse rowed against another Evesham crew in the J18 double scull final and overcame them by three lengths.

In the J18 coxless pair event Alex Russell and Rupert Malein comfortably recorded a victory in the final.

In the IM3 single scull Sergui Phoursa and Jack Towers both raced confidently to reach the final, where Jack was able to take victory.

The final win for the club saw the crew of Nicky Perry, Karen Sexton, Liz Stranks and Jan Phipps, coxed by Emma Attwood, beat a crew from Warwick to win their pots.

At the end of the regatta a number of scratch eight races were held and this saw members from all of the competing clubs drawn to race with each other in a knockout event.

Fran Harvey, Alex Russell, Patrick Sullivan, James Mackins and cox Toby Edwards were the Evesham members involved in the winning crew.

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