Oarsome displayas City race to 15 wins at their bigSpring Regatta

They made home advantage count with an impressive haul of 15 wins at Thorpe Meadows - five on Saturday and then doubling their tally on Sunday.

They also achieved seven second places over the weekend, which saw hundreds of rowers from all over the country battle it out in over 20 hours of non-stop action on the four-lane 1km course.

For the juniors, Harry Masterson dominated the J16 singles category, storming to victory in the event on both days.

On the Saturday he flew through his heat, achieving the fastest time in his field by over 10 seconds, and then raced even quicker in the final.

Then the following day, he was joined by clubmates Benjamin Mackenzie and Jack Collins in the final, along with a Cambridge 99 sculler.

It was a nailbiting race with only six seconds separating first from fourth. However, Masterson comfortably took the win, finishing four seconds ahead of the Cambridge 99 sculler in second.

Although Mackenzie and Collins missed out on a win in their singles final, they achieved an impressive win in their J16 doubles on the Saturday, finishing nine seconds ahead of the Cambridge 99 crew in second place.

Another double sculls victory came from Alex Leverage and James Toynton in the J15 doubles event. They won their final by just under a second.

Anna Robotham was very successful in the Women’s IM3 singles event, claiming a win after beating the York City sculler by over 10 seconds.

The last Peterborough win on Saturday came from Olivia Hutchinson, Georgina Parker, Libby Jarvis and Hannah Basset in the Women’s IM3 coxless quads. They came home a second ahead of the Leeds University crew in the final.

Hutchinson also did well in her J16 singles, finishing first in her heat, second in the semi-final and then second in the final.

Leading the way on a Super Sunday was Hannah Chatfield, for whom there was double joy in the women’s J18 age category. She was first in both the singles and in a composite double.

In her singles final she blew away the opposition, finishing 15 seconds ahead of Oundle Town Rowing Club.

Her composite double didn’t disappoint either, when she joined Lotte Tyndale-Hardy from Deben Rowing Club to achieve a time of 3:53.9, making them the only crew in their field to record a time under four minutes.

Other victories in single sculls came from Damen Sanderson, who came top in a field of 11 in the Men’s Novice category, and Tim Ellis in the Masters D category. Ellis easily won his final by over 10 seconds.

Double sculls winners included Anita Carter and Joan Heath, who won by 10 seconds in the Women’s Masters E/F event, Michael King and George Bushell, who placed first out of a field of 12 in the Men’s Novice event, and Sarah Sheldrick and Kate Read, who lost their novice status in the Women’s Masters B/C double sculls. It was their first ever race and they won by four seconds ahead of Globe Rowing Club.

J15 scullers Tom Jackson, Henry Barnett, Thomas Bodily, Connor Ribbons and cox Rosie Turp gained their first ever win in the coxed quads after coming third the previous day.

The other City wins on Sunday were from composite crews with Peterborough, Star and Leicester rowing club in the Masters B/C coxless quad and Peterborough and Leicester Rowing Club in the Women’s Masters D coxed four.

Second places came from Steve Cranfield and Ian Palmer in both the Masters B and C doubles, Glyn Reed in the Masters B Novice singles, James Toynton in the Novice (A) singles, Jack Ward in the Masters E singles, and the women’s Masters C/D coxed eight composite crew.