QRC U17s take 4th in the World
Day four of the Worlds dawned warm and sunny despite the forecast of thunder and rain, however the conditions were somewhat lively in comparison to previous days. These conditions were reflected in the times that were posted. The top crews were coming in at least a minute and a half slower than before.
I will return to the headline further down the report but it has been a fantastic day for the Club and we are proud of all the crew who came so close to a World’s medal.
The racing for Queensferry started at 1000 with the Men’s 50+. The crew consisted of Alistair, Rory, Alan and Mike Breewood with Mike McDowell as Cox. They had a good start from lane 11 but coming towards the buoy they were behind the crew from the Netherlands. However, they had such a good turn they overhauled the Dutch and headed for home. They ended up 10 of 12 but had amassed six seconds on the Dutch crew finishing in a time of 12:21. It was a great effort, but it was not to be.
Next up it was the turn of the Women’s 50+ with a crew of Marianne, Anne Purcell, Tansy and Tracey with Anne Flannery coxing in a meandering sort of way on the way back. By heat four the wind had increased considerably in comparison to the other three heats, but the Ladies put in a Trojan effort. They felt strong throughout and turned very well and headed towards the line. They were comfortably in sixth place, so much so that Anne told them to take it easy coming towards the line to reserve their energy for the Repechage later in the day. They finished in a time of 15:31.
We had two ladies who went Renegade today, they “dared to be different”. Mel rowed for Renegade in the Women’s 50+ finishing in 11th place while Lorna also rowed for Renegade in the Women’s Open coming in 10th place ahead of Kinghorn. Louise also rowed for another club as she teamed up with North Queensferry in the Women’s 50+ putting in a fine effort only missing out on a place in the Repechage by two places.
The Queensferry crew in the Women’s Open was Jennifer, Beth, Sharon and Jenny with Louise as Cox. In blustery conditions they put in a great effort to finish ninth of 12 in a time of 14:52 exactly a minute ahead of Gourdon.
The race of the day was the U17 and the crew of Oisín, Olly Alexander and Lois with Louise as the Cox. As it was a youth race the distance was shortened to 1km. The race started at what is usually the turning buoy making it a straight sprint to the line. They started in lane two and with the drone footage being beamed back to shore as the race progressed down the course for everybody to cheer on. Thankfully the weather had improved with the wind dying down and the sun coming out. It was a very tight race with not much in it amongst the top four. Coming towards the line they were neck and neck with Killyleagh and the masses of Queensferry supporters assembled on the beach were unsure as to the result. We had to wait a few minutes before getting confirmation that they had finished fourth but only just. There was less than a second between them and Killyleagh. Queensferry finished in 05:10.1 with Killyleagh finishing in 05:09.2. Heart-breaking to miss out on a Bronze medal but they can be rightly proud of their efforts as they are the fourth best crew in the World! A great achievement from all involved including the trainers who have got them to this level.
The final race of the day for Queensferry was the Women’s 50+ Repechage. As has been the case in most of the Repechage races so far for Queensferry it proved to be a difficult race. Unfortunately, they finished at the back of the field in a time of 12:50. This was a vast improvement on their time in the heat and shows the strength of competition there is.
A further update of Mice and Flan from Flannery Row is that the truce didn’t last long, and no amount of housewarming gifts was going to placate the incumbents of this particular patch of land. So much so that an eviction order was delivered to Anne and she was forced to move house leaving what turned out to be voles and not mice to live in peace and solitude once again, free to raise their young without any person lying on top of their home. The final straw came when the creatures managed to chew through Anne’s groundsheet.
Report filed by Donal.