Cantabs’ Winter Head proved to be yet again a popular event this year, attracting 216 crews from clubs in the Eastern Region as well as those in Kent, Leicester, London, Oxford and Cambridge’s twin city, Heidelberg, Germany. Heidelberg’s M8+ were the fastest crew of the day, with the fastest W8+ being from Tideway Scullers School, who just beat out the Cantabs Senior Women’s crews, racing in new combinations for the first time.
Women’s captain Ellie Darlington said, “We had 8 women’s eights entered into Winter Head across all squads, and I was really pleased with the results of our top 2 eights in particular. Until last week we’d been rowing in small boats having been preparing for what turned out to be some very successful Fours Head and Vet Fours Head races, with wins in each event. This meant none of the squad had more than a handful of sessions in eights, and none of the crews had rowed as their full line-up until race day. To be within a few seconds of TSS, who’d raced well at Brit Champs last month, shows a lot of promise for the rest of the season.”
Other notable results for women’s crews include 2nd in W.Mas.8+ (fastest raw time) for a crew from the Intermediate Squad, and a win in JW4x.
The Cantabs men also enjoyed some good races, including an IM3 crew from the Senior Squad winning their category and finishing 9th overall in what was the first race for many of them at Cantabs. Other notable results for men’s crews included 2nd and 3rd in both the M4x and Mas.8+, and wins in J16.8x+ and J16.4x+.
As the event includes beginner categories, aimed at people who’ve learned to row since September, there is usually at least one entertaining mishap to entertain spectators and this year proved no exception. A novice athlete from LSE BC in London caught an ejector crab mid-race when she tried to fix her footplate, and Guy Beauchamp happened to be in the right place at the right time with his camera when it happened!
Full results can be found on our website.
