Shanklin’s winning sculler Sam Miselbach.
ROWING
ROUGH conditions at the Woolston Regatta, hosted by Southampton Rowing Club, made the going tough for competing IW crews — except for the juniors.
Shanklin had three crews taking part in the competition, but their main success came through their youngest members.
Sam Miselbach, 16, and Alex Robertson, 15, rowed in the J16 single sculls final where Sam forged ahead with an excellent performance to win over second-placed Alex, by almost a length.
The pair then joined Nathan Hobbs and Robert Kettlety, and cox Emma Sturrock, in the men’s novice fours.
In the final, they led the race to the buoy turn. However, the windy and choppy sea conditions made life tough coming back to the line and they eventually finished third.
Senior single sculls competitor Gary Burch took third in the qualifying heats to reach the finals but was unable to take a podium finish.
Ryde sent a depleted squad to the event, as their veterans were competing at the Henley Masters Regatta.
Pride of place went to the men’s junior pair of Sam Corney and Dale Buckett who won their event convincingly. They then joined James Cleary and Andreas Hicks, with cox Ed Newnham, in the men’s junior fours event, where they equalled their best performance of the season, finishing third.
Also finishing third in their event were the men’s senior four of Tom Clark, Sam Cocker, John Gedling, Matt Allsopp and cox Ed.
The men’s novice crew of Ed Newnham, Stephen Johnson, Luke Stubbings, James Cleary and cox Max Reeve, qualified for their final but did not compete because of illness.
The novice ladies — Abbi Cornish, Leanne Mitchell, Sophie Brown, Gemma Smith and cox Bryony Reeve — just failed to qualify for their final.
Meanwhile, Ryde’s veteran crews put in consistent performances at Henley.
The men’s masters C coxless four of Mick Jenner, Simon Saunders, Nick Pike and Russell Page reached the semi-final but a steering issue meant they failed to make the final.
Ian Hayden, in the men’s masters B single sculls, and Nick Pike in the masters D group, both made their semi-finals, while Mick Jenner (masters C) and Allan Evans (masters F) failed to make it past the heats.
The same fate befell the masters C double scull of Russell Page and Simon Saunders.