The weekend of 22/23rd October saw two crews from Wallingford racing at the largest head race in the world, in Boston, USA.
Our Grand Masters Womens 8 (that’s US parlance for an average 60-70 years age group) of Rachael Haycock, Katie Kapernaros, Becky Waller and Lou Wymer with some crewmates from other UK clubs, produced a stunning row to finish second, breaking the course record only to lose out by 0.8 seconds to a crew from Lucky Charms BC. This really is an exceptional performance, having flown out only two days before, borrowed a boat, and set off third from last, overtaking multiple crews on a notoriously twisty and bridge-filled course.
Our J17 double of Niamh McAdden and Emma Moroney also did well, finishing 9th out of 24 crews in Youth Doubles (under 17 group), steering a fine line and also overtaking many crews in their first ever trip to Boston. Excitement was ratched up by being selected for a news article and filmed for a whole afternoon by Boston Channel 5 TV. An excerpt of this in now on YouTube.
Wallingford Rowing Club 