West Norfolk rowers taste victory on the River Great Ouse between Littleport and Queen Adelaide

West Norfolk Rowing Club were back in action as 120 boats took to the water to take part in the Isle of Ely Rowing Head Race.

With the River Great Ouse glass-like, there was a time trial of over 3km for Novices in Division One and also 5km in Divisions Two and Three for those more experienced.

The club was represented by 10 rowers in four boats, a single scull and a coxed four in Division One and two double sculls in Division Two.

The course was run on the same stretch of water used for the Cambridge/ Oxford boat race during the pandemic in 2021, the long straight bit of the river between Littleport and Queen Adelaide.

This time the competitors had the advantage of supporters watching and shouting words of encouragement from the bank including a number from West Norfolk Rowing Club.

First to launch was Leigh Marshall, having completed a Learn to Row programme just five months ago.

Rowing in the Open Master C category, he rowed an excellent first race in an adjusted time of 15.03 minutes.

The Open (Novice) 4+ was coxed confidently by veteran rower Hamish Collin, with Lucy Surridge, Robert Murfitt, Chris Statham, and racing for the first time, William Hayes making up the crew.

They passed the finish line in an impressive time of 15.13mins.

This was an admirable result having had little in the way of practice as a crew in the lead-up to the competition.

At 10am, the crews of the 50 boats taking part in Division Two began launching to row the 7k up to the start line for the 5km race back towards Ely Rowing Club.

Owen Lewis and Matt Parle, competing in Open MasC 2x, charged over the finish line in an adjusted time of 20.30 minutes to take first place beating crews from Sudbury Rowing Club and Milton Keynes Rowing Club by more than a minute.

Following not too far behind was the W MasF 2x crew of Elizabeth Palmer and Helen Pryer beating their opponents from Sudbury RC in an adjusted time of 21.50mins against Sudbury’s 23.29mins.

It can be a long and exhausting day for a relatively short time on the water.

But the effort required in coordinating, preparing and transporting boats and equipment for events is well worth it when one is rewarded with the thrill of racing, the camaraderie of other rowers and the joy of being on the water.

Competitors are most grateful for our volunteer trailer drivers, in this case, Doug McNeil (a fellow rower), without getting competitors/equipment to the events, none of this would be possible.

The club also thanks the Isle of Ely Rowing Club for hosting such a well-organised and enjoyable event.

The club now looks forward to their next competition, Star Club Head, on the River Great Ouse in Bedford and hopefully to a successful season of racing in 2025.

Anyone interested in rowing should contact West Norfolk Rowing Club via: wnrc.club@gmail.com or alternatively by visiting the website at: https://wnrc.westnorfolkrowingclub.co.uk/