THE Isle of Wight's three principal rowing clubs competed with distinction at Newport Rowing Club Regatta at the weekend.
Over 400 competitors descended on the River Medina for the annual Hants and Dorset series.
This made for thrilling viewing, as the competitors rowed through the straight Newport course, with the coxed fours races spanning 1,500m on Saturday, and smaller boats and junior crews attacking a straight 1,000m course on Sunday.
Among many commendable performances, Shanklin Sandown Rowing Club saw their efforts net them seven victories and four second places, marking a highly successful double regatta weekend.
Saturday saw an especially spectacular performance from Shanklin’s junior men’s four — Arlo Adds, Carter Horrix, Louis Sheasby, Fred Giemza-Pipe, and coxswain, Esme Walters.
Newport Rowing Club also made their mark, seizing victory in the women's masters race and outclassing Shanklin and Poole squads to win by a comfortable margin.
Ryde Rowing Club's men’s junior senior four came second in the final after a very close race with Southampton, while the men’s novice fours rowed well to finish runner-up.
The Island's High Sheriff, Graham Biss, attended as a guest — awarding trophies to the winners.
He also had the opportunity to inspect the extensive improvements made to the clubhouse over the previous year, thanks to a successful Crowdfunding campaign.
Sunday saw Shanklin reaffirm their might in the small boats category.
Ten single scullers presented some thunderous racing, culminating in victories for Fred Giemza-Pipe who splendidly seized the Hants and Dorset Junior Sculls Championship and Louis Sheasby who pulled off an impressive win in the J16 single sculls.
Moreover, returnees Alex Robertson and Ethan Walters led the senior men’s pair to a dominant win, trouncing their competition by three lengths.
Parallel to this, an improvement from the junior pair resulted in further victories later in the day.
The victors included J16 quad members Louis Sheasby, Tobin Green, Isaac King and Arlo Adds as well as the J14 mixed quad of James Travers, Poppy Lawrence, Annabelle Steward and Esme Walters.
Ryde Rowing Club also showed tenacity in the competition.
The nail-biting men’s coastal junior pairs event ultimately demanded a re-row, due to a three-way heat in the semi-finals.
Ryde pulled through and came second in the final.
The girls' J16 quad team — Mia Read, Alexis Owen, Lottie Pettitt, and Emily Kellerman, with Ruby Read as cox — also celebrated a significant success, clinching top spot in their final after an impressive performance.
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