Rowers from Loughborough Boat Club experienced two contrasting days of racing at the Shrewsbury Regatta which was held last weekend (6th/7th May) on the River Severn.  A cold and dismal Saturday produced no wins from the four Loughborough crews, although the highlight was a close race against Northwich for the Ladies’ Masters Eight.  The curved nature of the river at Shrewsbury necessitates a staggered start and the Northwich crew just managed to hold this advantage round the outside of the bend, finishing half a length ahead.  The Loughborough Ladies boat included three new crew members for whom this was their first race for a ‘significant’ number of years and they all seemed to enjoy getting back into the competitive spirit without mishap!

The change of conditions to hot sunshine and balmy weather on the Sunday seemed to bring out the best in the Loughborough rowers, with trophies awarded to three out of the eight crews which competed.  Womens Intermediate 3 Double Scullers Hannah and Matilda won a fiercely contested and somewhat zig-zag semi-final against Trentham Boat Club by the narrowest possible margin of just one foot, before a convincing win in the final against Sir John Deanes College.  Meanwhile, Mike and Jen demonstrated a perfectly harmonised technique in their Mixed Masters Double Scull to beat a Bewdley/Ross crew by two lengths and notch up their first ever trophy; this bodes well for their planned race in the Canadian Masters Championships in Vancouver this July.  A glorious day was rounded off by a semi-final win for the experienced hands of the Mens Masters Four, and yet another tidy victory for twin sisters Annie and Cathy.