Lancaster’s rowing teams held their nerve to defeat York with a phenomenal 9-7 victory.
In a competition that requires endurance, determination and perseverance, that is exactly what Lancaster’s rowers displayed. The teams showed their commitment, working through the pressure to produce a fantastic win against York.
For our Lancaster rowers, Roses was an event that was not to be missed. The build-up required hard work with the competition being an underlying motivator to improve personal abilities. For many competitors, the entire year’s work revolves around Roses. William Berridge, a competitor at the last Roses, said that “with Roses being the first race after Easter, it really is key to set a good benchmark to help propel us into third term and onto other races we compete in over the summer.”
With rowing being one of the first events of the tournament, there’s no denying that the pressure was tangible. But, for Lancaster, it paid off with York slowly accepting inevitable defeat with each race.
Standout performances came from the Men’s Novice 8 and Senior 4 who both convincingly beat York 5 boat lengths to 0 and the Women’s Novice 8 who also clinched a fantastic 2-0 victory against tough competition. Other races were certainly tight; the Men’s Novice 4 narrowly beat York 0.75-0 and it was a similar story for the Men’s Senior 8 who beat York 1.75-0. But those two deciding races sealed 5 points and the victory for Lancaster.
The Men’s Second 8, though not competing for points, beat York by an astonishing six lengths – the biggest distance of the day – and really showed their ability in the face of tough competition.
Club captain, Ben Hussey, expressed his pride for the team, saying that the novices did extremely well and that he was exceptionally proud: “Everyone at the club is such a close-knot community and it really showed.”
The Women’s Novice captain, Georgia Rattigan, was also beaming with pride and said that the race will be just as tight next time in York. The Women’s Senior 4 and Novice 4, though not winning any points, most definitely made the whole squad proud too.
The victories of this year are even more special given the home advantage. With Roses returning to Lancaster after a three-year postponement, the crowd, the atmosphere, and the events were electric. It was great to see the support of the crowd urging the rowers across the finish line.
For our rowers, the motivation to have a repeat of 2019 was at the forefront of their aims. The goal this year was to show York that Roses really are red for the third year running. York is going to have a tough time proving otherwise for a quite a while yet.
