The weekend of the 1st & 2nd of June saw the unveiling of Curlew’s composite women’s quad with UEL (University of East London), despite racing three categories above their status they battled well taking the scalp of Imperial in the process. With Women’s Henley just around the corner – the signs are looking good for the ladies.
For the men with Henley just four weeks away, this was a good opportunity for them to put “a marker down”, with the coxed IV racing in IM1/Senior with a mind to Henley qualification and the coxless looking at gaining race experiencing at a lower category of IM2.
With racing both days it was going to be a tough weekend, especially with London crews playing their hands and entering a number of coxed and coxless IVs. On the Saturday, both crews got to their respected finals, the coxless in some style – being 4 lengths clear of the field in their heat. The coxed IV lead off the start only to be reeled in by the more established boats…however, preformed much better in the final finishing a well respected 3rd place.
Sunday saw the coxed IV step up into the Senior category to “mix it” with the big boys…their heat featured the likes of Oxford Brookes, Molesey and Upper Thames – final-ing was going to be a big ask…similarly to the coxless who had the likes of TSS, Molesey, Imperial. The coxless stormed into the lead with the quickest 500m of the entire category – but again their finishing let them down and they came in 2nd place – but proved to the field that they were the boat to catch off the start.
The coxed IV got through the head from hell with a convincing win over a city of Bristol crew who had beaten them in the final at Nott City Regatta two weeks previously…the final saw the following pitched against each other, Molesey, Star, Upper Thames, TSS, UL and Curlew. This was the first senior final Curlew have been to in the coxed IV and marks a great improvement to the standard of rowing in East London. Despite their battling efforts and a really quick start they were unable to create an upset. The coxless faired a little better in their final, taking the scalp of Molesey and within 5 seconds of 2nd place.
Things are looking bright for Reading this coming weekend and HHR…