BECCLES Rowing Club sent two of their top competitive crews to race at the prestigious and nationally- recognised Bedford Small Boats Head. On an absolutely perfect day for rowing, the crews flew the flag for Beccles under sunny skies and on smooth, fast water.

BECCLES Rowing Club sent two of their top competitive crews to race at the prestigious and nationally- recognised Bedford Small Boats Head. On an absolutely perfect day for rowing, the crews flew the flag for Beccles under sunny skies and on smooth, fast water.

The Bedford event attracts crews from all over the UK, including high standard boats from Oxford and Cambridge.

The flagship men's quad, consisting of captain Phil Marler, John Cowan, Mark Adcock and Mark Taylor, raced twice during the event and performed well, making the first page of the fastest crews and recording respectable two kilometre times of seven minutes 10 seconds in their first outing and a time only two seconds slower in the afternoon after steering a good line and remaining tidy throughout.

The crew raced at the newly- created Intermediate Two Category and performed well, whilst recognising that improvement is possible with greater training application and dedication.

The Beccles quad finished behind eventual winners Rob Roy, who recorded a swift six minutes 28 seconds in the early division and the crew will be looking to close that gap at future events.

The other senior Beccles crew competing in the event were the Intermediate Three Pair of Jon Benest-Bartram and Matt Lawes. The pair had been training hard and producing some nice, smooth outings and were pleased with their performance.

Their time of eight minutes five seconds in the early division, followed by eight minutes 12 seconds in the later division saw them in the middle of the pack, 38 seconds off the impressive pace set by eventual winners Bedford Rowing Club who came home in seven minutes 27 seconds.

This is the first competitive outing for the recently-formed pair and there is little doubt amongst members that this will be a boat to watch in the future.

Following the event captain Phil Marler observed: “This is the right environment in which to test our senior crews.

“We need to know where we stand on a national level if we have aspirations of becoming a respected force at a higher standard.

“We are not here to make up the numbers - we are here to find out what it takes and to do our best to reach that level.”

Those interested in going to one of the Beccles Rowing Club induction programmes or who are keen to help the club in any way, are encouraged to contact captain Phil Marler via www.becclesrowingclub.co.uk