By Florian Halama
Sat, 15.05.2011 – The weekend started early for the PHIL B, PHIL P, MARTIN, KIERAN, CHLOE RHIANNE and JOG cox DYLAN, who started their journey to Shrewsbury at 5.30 in the morning. After 110 miles the group and the trailer arrived in Shrewsbury, where they were already awaited by GLEN, MATT, TOM, ANDY, STEVE H, AARON and FLORIAN who had spent the night in the area. Without wasting time the oarsmen and women immediately prepared the first race for the day, AARON IM3 1x. After a hectic boating phase, he raced the 1000m course and lost to a experienced rower from Nottingham.
The next race took place in the IM3 4x- division, where PHIL B, PHIL P, MARTIN and GLEN raced Kings School Worcester. The school team had enough power to win the race against the most experienced and well-functioning crew in the JOG squad. However, the ‘Kings’ had to face JOG again in the next round, where they raced against KEIRAN, STEVE H, ANDY and TOM, who sadly had to give away the race by about two lengths. In between these races RHIANNE and CHLOE raced in the Junior 15 2x but lost a close race to Abingdon RC. By the time PHIL B, PHIL P, MARTIN and GLEN went to race Masters D 4x- it dawned on the JOG oarsmen and women already that Fortuna, the goddess of luck, was not favourable to JOG on this Saturday. The masters lost their race against Abingdon RC on the difficult course. The last race of the day took place in the Novice 4x+ category, where ANDY, MATT, FLORIAN, TOM and JOG star cox DYLAN raced a crew from Ireland. After the first meters the JOG oarsmen were ahead of the Irish but were then overtaken in the middle part of the race. However, the support of the fellow JOG members and the precise steering of cox DYLAN enabled the quad to gain again on their opponents. However, although the crew already scented a slight hint of win in the competitive air, they lost the closest race of the day by about one length.
Although there were no wins for JOG at the Shrewsbury Regatta 2011, the involved oarsmen and women enjoyed the picturesque setting of the historic event.
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