Twickenham Masters Earn Five Wins at Marlow Spring Regatta
- Twickenham RC
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Two additional TwRC crews won their heats to advance before finishing second in their finals
It was a busy and successful Saturday for Twickenham’s Masters squads at the Marlow Spring Regatta, with 11 crews taking to the water across various categories. Despite some heavy weather late in the day, the club came away with five wins and several hard-fought second-place finishes.
Dominant and First Time Winners Among Twickenham's Highlights of the Day's Five Wins
The Women's squad showed incredible depth, securing four of the club's five wins. The W Mas D 8+ rowing in Paul McCarter with the crew of Abigail Bray (stroke), Kathy Billings, Vicki Clark, Faith Forster, Pia Kemppi, Rosie Creer, Janet Holt, and Gilly O'Beirne (bow) with Andy Dobson as cox overcame some bumpy water to take an early lead 30 strokes into the race and held it for a convincing 3.5-length victory over Staines and Walton.
Carrying the winning ways from the 8+ into a 4x-, Billings (stroke), Clark, Forster, and Creer and also competed in the W Mas C 4x- category rowing Dominique Field to a dominant 4 length win over Staines in the final.
Perhaps the most dramatic finish of the day came from Twickenham’s Development Squad in the W Mas C/D Nov 4x+. Racing in A E Liversidge the crew of Rebecca Wardle (stroke), Emma Slater, Lauretta Ciuffardi, and Trish McLaren (bow) with cox Iain McMillan was competing in their first-ever race, going up against a home crew from Marlow and a Guildford crew who had a 7 second advantage.
All intention was on putting down a good first race and the crew started strong but caught a crab early. Regaining their composure within two strokes they battled back and by half way had edged out Marlow and were gaining on Guilford. With cool heads, strong legs, and Ted Lasso-inspired coxing from McMillan, the crew sealed it, winning by 1ft at the line.
In the singles events, Sarah Neville braved a sudden downpour and "open sea" conditions rowing Zephyr in the W Mas C 1x to win "Easily" verdict in a three-lane final against the clubs Reading RC and Maidenhead.
The Masters Men's squad added to the finals win in the Op Mas H 8+ for Twickenham’s final event of the day - With a torrential downpour that kicked in as Grand 48 settled in at the starting line, the crew of Doug Davidson (stroke), Keith Baldwin, Michael Salzman, Paul Wood-Robinson, Simon Pullen, Stephen Ball, Jonathan Evoy, D Kenny (bow) and Janine Pembroke coxing held their nerve in a side-by-side battle with Marlow to win by a canvas against Marlow.
A Pair of Winning Heats Leading to Second-Place Finishes
Alongside the five finals winners, two Twickenham crew won first round heats to advance to finals.
In Twickenham’s first event of the day, Vanessa James (stroke) and Genevieve Siddons (bow) had a strong debut in the W Mas D 2x event rowing together in the new-to-them boat, Jazzy. The first heat resulted in a 2.5 length win over Eton Excelsior and Weybridge to advance to the final where they came in second behind the winners from Walton.
Rowing Stampfli, the crew of James Easton (stroke) Simon Brown, Nick Crayson, and Jim Hughes - (bow) won their first heat of the Op Mas C/D 4x- by five lengths, besting crews from Marlow and Henley to advance to the final. Against Henley RC and Maidenhead, Twickenham’s crew was beaten off the start but came back against Henley, closing the gap at the finish line to just half a length while holding Maidenhead off by two lengths.
Competitive Heats and Finals for Remaining Crews
Twickenham fielded two entries in the crowded W Mas E/F 4x- event. In the first of three heats and rowing Christine Maddox, the crew of Abigail Bray (stroke), Janet Holt, Nicki Lyon, and Natalia Lokhova (bow) was together for just their second outing. In the heat they battled side by side with Falcon BC before losing by 2 and a half lengths to the eventual finals winner.
In the third heat of the event, Twickenham’s crew of Haiming Yuan (stroke), Helen Mullally, Jessica Barclay, and Christina von Hodenberg (bow) showed great promise in their first regatta, matching Staines stroke-for-stroke until the final 200m before coming in third by 2 ½ lengths.
Op Mas C/D 4+: The Category C crew of Danny Fitzgerald (stroke), James Watson, Marshall Fleming, and Cameron Wilson (bow) with Gabrielle Walters coxing faced a delayed start against the Category D crew from Christchurch in the straight final of the event. Once the flag dropped for Twickenham the crew, rowing in John Sewell, had a solid outing considering it was their first time together, but were not able to close the gap.
Op Mas G/H 1x: Spike Pullen put in a solid effort in the single sculls, finishing 2nd to the home club Marlow in the category’s straight final.
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