Two members of Loughborough Rowing Club have become the third couple from the club to get married in recent years. Mike Targett and Jennifer Smith tied the knot last weekend and were feted with a ceremonial tunnel of rowing oars at the Boat Club’s picturesque premises on the banks of the River Soar at Zouch. A ceremony held in the ornate Victorian surroundings of Leicester’s Abbey Pumping Station (with the pumps in full steam!) was followed by a journey on the Great Central Railway on an open-air coach behind a LMS 8F Class steam locomotive from Leicester North to Loughborough, and then a reception at the Boat Club itself.
Mike and Jen, who are both senior members of staff at the University of Nottingham’s School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at Sutton Bonington, joined Loughborough Boat Club nine years ago. They have competed at in many regattas in the Club’s Mens and Womens crews respectively, and have also rowed together as crewmates in the mixed double scull category. Their most notable race was at the Canadian Masters Championships in Vancouver, where they were attending the wedding of former club members Andrea Bundon and Dave McCaughan, who also found romance at Loughborough Boat Club. Perhaps there is something in the waters of the River Soar, because Club Captain Keith Hudson and Ladies’ Captain Zoe Poyner also became husband and wife after many years as Club members. Either way, it is a reflection on the teamwork, enjoyment, and friendship that the very sociable sport of rowing can engender and we all wish Mike and Jen many years of happiness and success together in their ‘love boat’!
