Upper Thames athletes dominate at World Rowing Masters Regatta

UPPER THAMES athletes returned from the five-day World Rowing Masters Regatta at Spain’s Lake Banyoles last month with an impressive 26 gold medal haul.

This year’s event saw 5,428 entries from 725 clubs compete from around the world over the 1,000m course.

A small squad of Upper Thames athletes, comprised 11 women — Becks Sadler, Judith Burne, Naomi Ashcroft, Helen Mangan, Naomi Holland, Sarah Kell, Jo Wilby, Jeanette Caldicot, Amanda Bowden, Mary Bromilow and Sarah Kell — and eight men — Clive Cooper, Rod Stewart, Lee Brown, David Hope, Peter Jacobs, Dan Sadler, Jeremy Dobbin and Nick Horne — where they placed 74 entries and competed throughout the event to secure the fifth highest total points.

The crews were in all boat classes — eights, fours (coxed and coxless), pairs, quads, doubles and singles — and in age categories ranging from A (27 to 35) to J (over 80).

Some of the Upper Thames standout performances came from the WE4x Becks Sadler, Judith Burne, Helen Mangan and Naomi Ashcroft. This was a demanding race that was won with the final stroke over the line and the fastest quad for that event.

The men’s F eight composite included the stern pair of Peter Jacobs and Dan Sadler, and the WE coxed four that dominated their races from the start. Retaining their titles were Sarah Kell and Judith Burne in both the WE coxless pairs and WF coxless pairs and Rod Stewart in the single sculls events (I and H) and David Hope with his sculling victory in the G category. Mary Bromilow won the J (over 80s) double sculls event with her international partner.

Last weekend Upper Thames competed in the Scullers’ Head in London on Sunday, with standout performances across the board. Highlights included victories in the Masters B men’s and ladies’ single sculls for Sean Bathe-Taylor and Meghann Jackson. Sam Diserens finished third in the men’s category. At the Wallingford Long Distance Sculls, Upper Thames were represented by the women’s masters C quad of Pippa Birch, Antonia Van Deventer, Nikki Absolom and Amanda Bowden. With no masters opposition, the crew raced in the senior women’s quad and finished in sixth place.