FOUR crews from King’s Ely broke four records at the Isle of Ely Ouse Marathon on Sunday (September 1).
Seven scullers and one cox joined rowers of all ages and abilities in a total of 89 crews for the 22km race from Denver Sluice to Queen Adelaide Bridge: one J15 Coxed Quad comprising Eddie Bond, Gabrielle Berraondo , Jamie Stiff, Will Fellows , coxed by Emily James ; WJ15 Single Isla Taylor, WJ16 Single Christina Fialova and J18 Single Toby Rudkin, who broke several records in the summer.
With the boats all rigged, the two girls led the way, closely followed by the Quad, leaving Toby to boat last of the King’s Ely crews. Isla was first home for the school, setting a record time of 2 hrs 0 mins 11 secs, breaking the WJ15 record and coming 56th overall, which was an excellent result. Christina then came home in a time of 2 hrs 15 mins 55 secs, placing her 71st overall and setting a record for the WJ16 category. The Quad put in a super scull, finishing in a time of 2 hrs 23 mins 29 secs. They also broke the record for the J15 Coxed Quad, placing them 78th. Toby had a great start to the season, setting a new course record for J18 and Single Scull in a time of 1 hr 38 min 45 secs, and beating the previous record by over 5 mins.
Support from parents along the route made life just that little bit easier; both Toby and Isla’s fathers decided to bike the route to provide on-the-spot encouragement too.
Coach Liam Smith commented: “Well done to all of the crews who rowed on Sunday. It was a fantastic start to the season and I hope that they keep up the good work.”
Photos from the event can be viewed at the Ely Rowing Club website.