On Sunday 10 September ’23, Isle of Ely Rowing Club took part in the Cambridge Autumn Regatta hosted by Cambridge ’99s Club – a day of side-by-side 500m sprints at Ditton Meadows. Both boats (W4x+ and W4x) were made up from scratch crews with limited preparation time.

Chris and Suze had an industrious day being umpires, trailer drivers, extra pairs of helping hands and arriving extra early to pop up a gazebo and chairs on the riverbank.

The weather was super hot and we had to drink loads to stay hydrated, Mr Whippy ice creams were necessary, as was home made cake and lots of fluids – the host’s Mocktails were superb, especially the ginger one!

The course was relatively straight but we really needed to concentrate on steering, as 500m is very intense. The major headache was getting to the start, as we kept on having to pull into the very shallow side of the river to keep out of the way of oncoming racing crews, which didn’t calm our pre-race jitters. That’s what makes rowing all the more of a challenge as you have to work with such variable river conditions.

Our coxless quad races (x2) went without incident and we did our very best in very sunny conditions (30+ degrees C). Great effort from everyone.

In the afternoon, more lovely ladies and some of their families turned up and we rigged up 402 to take part in two more races. We didn’t have a cox but Jane turned up to spectate and kindly agreed to cox the boat – kit was loaned and off we went, making it to the start just in time. Jane did a grand job of coxing and we won both of our races – for some of us, our first ever pots.

The best thing about the day was the joy of rowing together and putting into practice what we have been learning from our fabulous coaches and their assistants. Plus support from family and friends who also took some cracking photos.

It was a great testament to the club that we could work together so cooperatively and compassionately.

Go Isle of Ely Rowing Club…