Sculling crew bounce back to win after breaking boat

THE winners of this year’s Turkey Sculls bounced back after breaking a rowing boat in the semi-finals.

Athletes at Leander Club in Henley marked their final training session of the year on Sunday by competing against one another for the chance to win a Copas turkey.

Rowers were split into crews of four, each made up of two women and two men, with a mix of senior and junior athletes. Crews were selected at random, with names drawn from a hat.

The teams raced head-to-head in knockout rounds over a 200m course, starting from Phyllis Court Club and finishing just outside Leander.

Rowers dressed up in Christmas jumpers and hats and even festive all-in-ones.

The winners, Lauren Carey, Alex Clack, Zak Jenkins and Phoebe Snowden, managed to secure first place after their stroke “caught a crab” in the semi-final, which is when a rower’s oar blade gets stuck in the water. As a result the boat was damaged.

The crew were presented with prize turkeys by Brenda Copas, of the Copas Partnership, which has sponsored the event for many years. The team managed to knock out two-time turkey sculls champion Charlotte Fennell in the semi-final, who was vying for her third win in a row.

Lauren Carey, 24, who is spending Christmas in Sussex with her family, said she was going to call her mum to tell her about the prize.

“I feel very lucky and I’m sure she’ll be very happy,” she said.

Recalling the crew’s tumultuous competition, she said: “We had a big crab in the semi-final and we ended up breaking our boat, unfortunately. Our stroke man caught a crab, so his blade twisted around and then the three of us just ended up rowing and I was laughing the whole time.”

Carey described the event as “really fun” and “not too serious”. He said: “In our final, we just wanted to just row clean and just have a good time. I was giggling most of the way — I think that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?”

Earlier in the day, athletes also competed in a triathlon sponsored by Healthium Clinics and prizes were awarded to the top performers.

For the sculls a speaker was set up outside on the decking of the club where spectators gathered to watch the event, and the racing was accompanied by humorous commentary from Leander rowers Olivia Caesar and Alex King.

Caesar described the finish line celebrations from the winning crew, which later included jumping in the river as “celebrations to rival that of a Henley final”.

The finish line judge for the competition was British Paralympic coxswain Erin Kennedy who described the event as a nice way to end the year.

She said: “I personally haven’t competed as a cox, maybe one day I should. But it’s always really good fun.

“It’s a great way just for the men’s and women’s squads to come together and it’s a bit of a laugh. We invite the members along and it’s just good to kind of wrap up the season.”

Junior rowers Ed Flood and Alfie Webb, both 17, wore Christmas jumpers to watch the racing from the towpath.

Ed said: “This is my third time here. I think it’s a great event every year. It always puts on a show.”

Alfie said: “It’s a nice community thing. It’s all the juniors, men, women and then you get to see people’s parents.”

The crews then rounded off the day with a Christmas social in the evening.