Islanders compete in Rowing Championships

Four members of the Wightlink sponsored Ryde Rowing Club competed in the Open Southern Indoor Rowing Championships held on Saturday at Bellmoor School, in Southampton.

Over a hundred competitors took part in the event - one of the largest indoor rowing events in the South - which featured over 20 categories.

Adult racing was over the standard British indoor 2000 metre distance, while Junior events followed the Amateur Rowing Association "Go Race" format - of how much distance you could cover in a specific, age related, number of minutes.

Use of the latest technology allowed spectators to get a real feel of the action with each race unfolding in front of them on a big screen.

In the Boys J12 section, Samuel Corney, in his first competitive event for the Club, completed 452 metres in the allotted two minutes to finish in 5th place in his section.

In the J18 section, where unfortunately there were only a small number of entries, Callum Lowe finished first with a 2000m time of 7 minutes and 19 seconds, and he was chased home by Tom Clarke, who came second with a time of 7 minutes 23 seconds.

Mike Jenner, racing in the Lightweight 40 plus Veteran section, finished first in a strong field in a time of 6 minutes 45 seconds.