Peterborough crew just miss out on big bronze

Tom Calver, Ted Smith, Damen Sanderson (coach), Callum Gilbey, Thomas Bodily and Thomas Jackson

Thomas Bodily, Callum Gilbey, Ted Smith, Thomas Jackson and cox Tom Calver, who had only been rowing together for two weeks, exceeded all expectations by finishing fourth out of 61 of the country’s top crews in the Open J15 coxed quads.

And, rowing over a 1,000m course on the Friday, they missed out on the bronze medal by 0.4 of a second. They qualified for the A final after claiming sixth place in the time trial and then second place in the A/B semi-final.

Two other Peterborough crews progressed past the time trial stage.

Jenna Taylor, Olivia Hutchinson, Hannah Bassett and Georgina Parker.

Brandon Ingle, Tom Calveley, Ross Lamount, Finley Ribbons and cox Rosie Turp finished 21st out of 54 boats in the open J14 coxed quads category and went on to claim fourth place in the D final.

Jack Collins and Benjamin Mackenzie, rowing over two kilometres on the Sunday, also finished fourth in the D final of a tough open double sculls event featuring the likes of top crews Leander and Maidenhead.

Peterborough also had two girls’ crews competing at the weekend and both achieved very respectable times.

Jenna Taylor, Georgina Parker, Olivia Hutchinson and Hannah Bassett rowed up a year or two in the girls championship coxless quads and achieved a sub-seven minutes personal best. Unfortunately it wasn’t quick enough to secure them a place in a final.

Natalie Bicknell, Rosie Turp, Milly Hilton, Chloe Reed and Freya Woodall.

Tom Calver sat in the coxes’ seat again to compete alongside Freya Woodall, Natalie Bicknell, Chloe Reed and Milly Hilton in the girls J15 coxed quads and they were 39th out of 66 crews with a sub four-minute time for the kilometre course.

Peterborough City were also in action at the Nottingham City Regatta at the weekend and Camilla Plumb was unlucky not to win a medal.

The crews faced severe windy conditions at Holme Pierrepont but that didn’t stop Plumb achieving the fastest time in the heats in the women’s lightweight singles and clubmate Anna Robotham clocking the fourth fastest. However, later in the day their final had to be cancelled due to the windy conditions.

The open coxless quad of Damen Sanderson, George Bushell, Mike King and Chris Elder got to compete in their final and finished fifth, well ahead of Broxbourne Rowing Club, who finished 40 seconds behind them.

n Peterborough host their annual two-day Spring Regetta at Thorpe Meadows this weekend (June 2 and 3) with four-lane racing over a 1,000m course from 9am to 7pm on both days.