Fennel delighted after helping quad secure annual turkey sculls honours

LEANDER Club athletes took part in their turkey sculls race on Thursday of last week.

The quads of mixed crews raced in blustery conditions over a short 200 metre course from the finish line of the Henley Royal Regatta to their clubhouse.

The 48 athletes were a mix of men, women, seniors and juniors, who all took part in knock-out races to win their turkey.

Timma Marett, communications manager at the Leander Club, said: “The event is a fun, fast and furious scratch scull event for the members and it allows them to let off a bit of steam after months of tough training.”

The final was a close call with the crew of  Charlotte Fennel, Felix Richardson, Tristan Grainge and Jemima Furness taking the honours. Fennel was ecstatic about winning, as she said jokingly: “This was the highlight of my career — it doesn’t get better than this. I usually get knocked out in the first round.” At the presentation ceremony, high performance coach, Ali Brown, who was dressed festively in an inflatable santa suit, congratulated the winners and thanked the supporters. He also extended gratitude to Copas, who provided the four turkeys for the winners. Brown said: “We’d like to say a huge thank-you to Copas traditional turkeys for providing our winning crew with a turkey each for Christmas. We’re indebted to their generosity.” During the cold morning competition, spectators were offered the clubhouse’s mulled wine and mince pies, which were made in-house.