Two wins and a course record for Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club at The Boston Rowing Marathon

The HLRC Juniors - After Rowing 31 Miles

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A team from Hollingworth Lake Rowing Club (HLRC) took part in one of the longest rowing races in the world, the Boston Rowing Marathon. The race starts in Lincoln and finishes in Boston, a distance of 31 miles or 49.88 kilometres down the River Witham.

The day was filled with outstanding achievements from the juniors and seniors from HLRC.

Jess Pilkington and Harriet Jackson raced against a crew from Queen Elizabeth High School in the WJ15 double sculls. Their superb time of 4 hours and 48 minutes was over 42 minutes faster than their rivals and the win earned them a beautifully engraved crystal glass each. This was the culmination of many months hard training and was a well deserved victory.

A mixed J15 quad, Amy Aspinall, Sally Tisdall, Sophie Webb, and Paul Phillips, coxed by Mark Phillips had not rowed together for long. The crew supported each other throughout the gruelling race, completing it in great style and with fantastic determination.

Hannah Lowe and Molly Archbold from HLRC rowed in the Womens Junior 14 double sculls (WJ14.2x) category. They set a Course Record of five hours and 15 minutes for this category, a great achievement for the youngest women’s crew competing in the race.
Having to row up a year, Amy Bullock and Laura Aspinall competed in the WJ18 double sculls and finished in four hours and 39 minutes, only four minutes behind the time of their rivals who were a year older.

Tom Bullock and Tom Swithenbank were in the J15 double sculls category. Their hard fought race saw them finish with a time of four hours and 37 minutes, an exceptional time for first time competitors.

The only lone rower from HLRC, Matthew Harris, fought a hard race, rowing up a year, and put in an exceptional performance in the J18 single sculls category, with a time of four hours and 29 minutes. This was a huge achievement without any crew support and showed a great determination.

This was the first time any of the juniors had competed in this gruelling race, and despite the monumental effort on the day, the months of training beforehand, and the aches and pains experienced by all, every-one was pleased they had completed the race and proud of their own achievement.

The senior members of HLRC who competed also produced extraordinary results in their races.

The Mixed Masters C Coxless Quad of Jules Miller, Jason Hardman, Ann Edmondson and Tony Edmondson set a new Course Record of four hours and two minutes, beating the previous record set in 2009 by 15 minutes. This achievement was even more incredible as Tony is a relatively novice rower and had never tackled anything like this before.
Dave and Stuart Sykes, a father and son crew, won the Senior double sculls race against two other crews, finishing in a time of three hours and 41 minutes. This was a highly competitive race with only 10 minutes between first and third.

Although some had a 5:20am start and did not get home until after 8:30pm, all the competitors felt a huge sense of satisfaction, and the parents and supporters felt a huge sense of pride.

This was the largest team of juniors ever to compete from HLRC at the Marathon and they all expressed their gratitude to their Junior Co-ordinator, Rachel Harris, their biggest supporter and surrogate mother, Denise John, and the club captain, Ian John.

Ian said: “Proudest captain in the UK. All our surrogate kids excelled themselves finishing the Boston marathon in some amazing times.

"Thanks to our parents support group who helped everyone through the lock, etc. Two category wins, one course record. Fantastic day for all who took part.”