Win for our Senior eight at Star Autumn Head

On a brisk Sunday 17 November, nine Otters crews from our Intermediate and Senior squads took the train to Bedford to attend Star Autumn Head for the first time. Although in typical style the clouds started to darken just as our crews boated, this did nothing to dampen the mood when racing began. Loud cheers could be heard from other Otters boats and spectators as crews made their way along the 1750-metre course through the centre of town (featuring a truly remarkable number of bridges for the distance!).

The Otters had success in the Open Single Sculls category with Daniel Bregman taking second place and Coach Sam Kavanagh third in his debut race under the London Otters banner, and there was also fierce competition between the Intermediate and Senior double sculls. With a skilled manoeuvre, Tam and Ventouras were able to overtake the Hamilton-Rhys/Whitcher boat mid-race.

The highlight of the day’s racing, however, was the Senior Squad's open performance eight which chased down the development stream's eight to clinch the Open 8+ Band 2 category victory. With times of 06:22 and 06:38 respectively, it was a tight-run race and they went home with pots to mark the win.

We would like to thank Star Rowing Club for their superb organisation and a very successful day.

Credit to Steven Bond, Happy Tails Images, for photographs.