Two of Loughborough Boat Club’s leading lady rowers have followed up on successes earlier in the year to finish in second place in the World Masters Rowing Championships, held on the picturesque Lake Bled in Slovenia.  Zoe and Erica stormed to second place in their heat of the Women’s Masters ‘B’ Coxless pair, putting them in third place overall on time across two heats, narrowly behind an international NewZealand/Netherlands composite crew and a crew from the Czech Republic.  The Loughborough boat, named ‘Therapy’, was transported by road across Europe to the venue, and looked superb in its red, white, and blue colour scheme.

“It was daunting leaving the narrow and familiar River Soar at Zouch behind us to  square up to international crews in the middle of Lake Bled” said Zoe afterwards. “It’s by far the biggest regatta we’ve competed in but the atmosphere was really friendly and the racing well organised. We had no idea what to expect, but it was a brilliant experience and we’re really pleased to have been competitive; now we have to focus on making up those few seconds and be the fastest in the world next time!”

WMasB2- at Bled World Masters

Erica was similarly upbeat and commented that: “We are delighted to be the fastest GB crew in our category at such an amazing regatta. It’s a fantastic result and one we are very proud of.”

The Regatta attracted a record 4,700 rowers representing 860 clubs from all corners of the world, with races being held continually over five days along the 1,000 metre 8 lane course.  Any rower over the age of 27 can enter, with races divided into 5 year age groups.  During the regatta, Zoe and Erica also crewed up with two fellow rowers from Derwent Rowing Club to race in the Coxed Four and Quadruple Scull categories, finishing in a creditable 9th and 21st place respectively.