THERE were home comforts for Evesham Rowing Club members to savour at the annual Bank Holiday Evesham Regatta which saw the host club win 11 events as some fantastic racing took place in great weather.
On the Saturday racing was held over a 1,000m upstream course and Evesham managed to win five events.
The first of these was Frances Russell winning the WJ16 single sculls. In the final she raced against City of Oxford and recorded an easy verdict. By winning this event she won her novices and gained herself a swim in the river.
Lucy Taylor and Fiona Macrae also earned themselves a swim in the river after winning the Women’s Novice double scull event by beating another City of Oxford crew, as this time the Evesham crew won by three lengths.
Evesham had international competitors at this year’s event for the first time in recent years and they came from Carlow Rowing Club in Ireland. The IM1 coxless pair of Josh Rogers and Luke Grundy beat a crew from Carlow with another easy verdict.
J18 single sculler James Mackins won several rounds before making the final in which he beat a single sculler from Hereford by four lengths.
Alex Lacey, Tom Woodward, Frazier Kiff, Tom Taylor and cox Alex Mackins beat Windsor Boys School in the final of the J15 coxed quads in one of the closest finals of the day, winning by just three feet.
Sunday racing was held over a 500m downstream course and the home club won six events.
The WJ14 double scull of Gilly Russell and Roanne Foister beat a strong double from Ross Rowing Club in the final by one-and-three-quarter lengths. Foister then teamed up with Sophie Evans, Sian Bird, Daisy Furrokh and cox Emilie Culwick to again beat Ross Rowing Club by two lengths in the WJ14 coxed quad event.
Frances Russell was in top form again to win the WJ18 single sculls event. She raced against girls up to two years older and beat a sculler from Worcester in the final by two lengths.
Frances then teamed up with her older brother Alex to compete in the Mixed IM3 double scull to beat Bewdley by four lengths in the final.
The Novice coxed four of Harry Roper, Joe McCombie, Joe Monger, Rob Davies and cox Alex Mackins beat Hereford in a close race, winning by just half a length to earn themselves their swim in the River Avon.
The final win for Evesham came from David Pollard in the Masters G single scull event as he beat a strong sculler Carlow Rowing Club (Ireland) by one length.
A special mention must go to Katie Griffiths who, in the semi-final of the Women’s IM3 single sculls event, was winning and unfortunately capsized just a couple of metres from the finish line.
The victorious Women’s Novice double scull of Lucy Taylor and Fiona Macrae in action. (s)