Abingdon mens squad went en masse to Oxford City Regatta.
The first crew to race on the 1000m Saturday course against HSBC was the IM3 8+ of Carl Willott, Paul Hansford, Ian Caswell, Michael Lynch, Adrian Lidington, Alex Wilis, Joe Jones, Chris Lynch and coxed by Hannah Dunton. Unfortunatley, never really hitting their rhythm, they moved strongly down the course but sat 1/2 length down on their opponents.
Next up was the IM1 2- of Adrian Lidington, Alex Willis against the first of the Putney crews. They started strong but came down to who steered the better course. Abingdon can down stronger and were able to stay within their lane and took the win in their first heat.
The second heat in the IM1 2- of Carl Willott, Paul Hansford up against Wolfson College was up next. Starting strong and rating higher than Wolfson, they were early to take a 1 length lead. Unfortunatley Wolfson then steered themselves into the bank and Abingdon were able to take the win with an 'easy' verdict.
The semi finals saw a very close race between Lidington and Willis and the second Putney crew. Both level down the stretch, but it was Putney who put in the biggest, final burst to take the win with a 1/3rd length verdict.
The second semi finals saw Willott and Hansford against another Putney crew. Again both crews racing strong, Abingdon were able to take an early 1 length lead. However, a clash of blades by both crews saw Abingdon over correct and hit a cruiser travelling up in the navigation channel and then careering into a 8+ bringing the boat to a stand still and giving Putney an easy paddle to the finish line.
The final race of the day was IM2 4+ of Ian Caswell, Michael Lynch, Joe Jones and Chris Lynch, coxed by Hannah Dunton. This was a newly formed crew and due to the doubling up rules of the regatta, they were having to race 2 status's above there own. They were lucky enough to get a bye to the finals where the met HSBC. Abingdon were extremely quick off the start and were able to sit up on their opponents early in the race. Despite a splashy row down the course, they were able to maintain their lead and took their first win! A very well done to them.
The second day of the event, racing over a shortened course of 500m saw the first race of the day IM3 4+ Caswell, Lynch M, Jones, Lynch C and this time coxed by Amelia Munsey against Reading. Again a very strong a clean start saw them take the early lead and maintian this down the course taking the win in the first heat. In the next heat they were up against Bristol and again a very quick start saw the early advantage and this time with a much cleaner, solid row, were able to sit comfortably up on their opponents and seal their place in the semi finals. In the semi's up against Llandaff, both crews set off strong and battled down the course side by side. However, it was Abingdon who were able to put in a final push in the last 20 strokes which saw them cross the finish line first and into the finals. Up against another Bristol crew, both crews were able to match eachother down the course, but it was the more experienced Bristol crew who were able to pull away and take the win. This was a truely fantastic result for the Abingdon boys in their first race weekend out together. Well done!!
Other races that day saw IM1 4- Willott, Hansford, Lidington, Willis against Putney, taking the bump (later over turned) re-rowed and taking the bump again to race another Putney crew in the final. It was the stronger crew who can down the course first and saw Abingdon taking the win.
IM1 2- Willott, Hansford lost in the final against Oxford
N2x Lynch C, Lynch M lost out to a stronger Putney crew
VD2x Cuan Ryan, David Mcdonald getting their second win in consequtive events this time against Oxford Academicals. Very well done!!
IM2 2x Ryan, Mcdonald racing against a much stronger, younger Wallingford crew, unfortunatley saw them cross the line 2 lengths down.
The last race of the day saw our novice guys, Paul Godsafe, Eric Murphy, Philip Swan and Quartus Trichart coxed by Amelia Munsey in their first race together against Reading. Unfortunatley a slight issue at the start gave Reading an early lead and despite a very strong push down the course were not able to make up the lost ground. However, valuable experience for their first race and I am sure there is much more to come from these guys.
All in all a very good and successful event and much fun was had by all involved
