Putney Town Rowing Club

Charlotte Taylor began her multilane sculling career with victory as Putney Town kicked off their summer season on Dorney Lake, at Wallingford Regatta.

Charlotte, who only took up sculling seriously at the end of last summer, won a thrilling Intermediate 3 race at the end of the afternoon division, having finished third in Intermediate 1 in the morning.

In unusually benign conditions at the Olympic venue, races ran to time throughout the day with a morning crosswind the only annoyance. It was a stark contrast to last year’s event, where racing was cancelled at midday.

Putney Town’s women’s senior squad found themselves in the fastest Intermediate 3 heat of the morning but the time of the crew - stroked by Rochelle Morrissey and with several of last year’s beginners’ squad on board - showed them to be right at the front of the chasing pack.

A crew featuring a slightly different line-up took further lessons for the rest of the summer from their afternoon IM2 heat.

Four crews from the Town’s men’s squad faced tough opposition throughout the draw at an event dominated by schools in the build-up to next month’s National Schools Regatta.

However the first eight, stroked by Jack Mellish-Dix and featuring several oarsmen who have graduated from the club’s Learn to Row programme, recorded the fastest time of the day by a club crew at Intermediate 3. A second eight competed at IM3 and a coxless four at IM1.

In the afternoon division, an eight put together recently on training camp in Banyoles, Spain, featured at Intermediate 2, beating the only other club crew in their heat.

Words by Martin Gough

Charlotte Taylor and her coach, Martin Gough

April 2012 saw the PTRC women’s squad descend for the 3rd year in a row (forgive the pun) upon the beautiful waters of Brive la Gaillard, Bordeaux, France for an intense (but enjoyable) week of rowing.  Despite varying conditions of wind, hail, thunder and lightning interspersed with the usual beautiful sunshine we had prayed for, the squad successfully made it through an arduous if fun week of preparation for the summer regatta season.

Highlights of the week included a 2k race against fellow campers -  Worcester and the Putney Town top eight.  Having been neck and neck for the first 1,000 metres after an exciting start, the girls successfully pulled away at the 1,100 mark and by the final 60 strokes had a good length clear which lengthened considerably by the time they hit the finish line.   Thanks to our sporting friends for such an enjoyable race!

The week was rounded off with the usual annual ‘minging kit’ games (all still rowing focused of course!), interspersed with more hail and thunder.  With the 2 coaches Gary and Emma each heading up a team, Em comfortably took the glory this year with some impressive 360 spinning in sculls and a four and some unusual coxing efforts!

The squad drove away from Brive feeling confident for the coming months with regattas at Wallingford, Metropolitan, Reading & of course Women’s Henley to look forward to.

PTRC Women's Squad in Brive, France

Minging kit day (aka coach's normal kit)

To err is human, to erg is inhuman.

Open Day for all experienced rowers and coxes – both male and female - interested in joining Putney Town for the 2011-12 season

Saturday September 10th 2011 at 11am

Are you looking for a rowing club in London and have previous rowing or coxing experience?

As the ‘friendliest Club on the Tideway’, Putney Town welcomes experienced coxes, oarsmen and oarswomen to an Open Day on Saturday, September 10th, at 11am.

The day is an opportunity for you to see Putney Town’s facilities, to meet our rowers and coaches and to learn about the Club’s history and activities. The Open Day is also an opportunity for us to get a feel for your level and ambition so that were you to join the Club, we can match you with the appropriate squad.

We will meet at 11am in the main hall of the boathouse (upstairs) and based on numbers you may be going on the water.

If you will be attending, please register your interest by sending an email to Ben menscaptain@putneytownrc.co.uk (for men) and Elizabeth womenscaptain@putneytownrc.co.uk (for women).

Please bring kit for water or indoor training, a water bottle and wellies (you can borrow wellies at the Club if you don’t have any at hand).

To learn about our squads, please visit the Squad sections on our website.

Any questions in the meantime, please contact Elizabeth McLoughlin, Women’s Captain or Ben Burston, Men’s Captain.

The Putney Town Women stormed through to a win in the WIM2 8+ category at the Wallingford Regatta, May 1, 2011.

In windy conditions at Dorney Lake, coxed by Chris Carlson, the 8+ settled into a steady and effective rhythm. With a very strong second half of the race the winning time came to 07:49:97 minutes. Eight seconds before Vesta in second place and Molesey in third place.

WIM3 8+ Win at Wallingford Regatta 2011

Finishing 26th overall, the Putney Town senior women achieved the best result the Club has ever recorded in recent times in the Women’s Head of the River Race on March 19, 2011.

Finishing 6th in the IM2 category, the result positions the Putney Town women in the top 10 of pure club crews in the country. Following on from wins in IM2 in the Quintin Head and the Hammersmith Women’s Head, the senior Putney Town women are now looking forward to continued strong performances during the summer regatta season. As  one of the most vibrant clubs on the Tideway, Putney Town had three additional boats in the race finishing 130th, 283rd and 288th. In particular the novice crew showed great potential, having started rowing only six months ago.

The PTRC senior Women, 26th overall in the WEHORR 2011.
The boat was stroked by Hayley Cripps and coxed by Emma Linthwaite.

Under Head Coach Martin Gough, the Putney Town women continues to show their strength on the Tideway and picked up the WIM2 8+ pennant in the 2011 Hammersmith Women’s and Junior’s Head. With a time of 12.44.5 minutes, the crew, coxed by Emma Linthwaite, fought off strong competition from clubs such as Tideway Scullers and Molesey. The women’s squad at Putney Town is one of the most active on the Tideway and promising results were also shown by the WIM3 8+ and the WN 8+ crews finishing 8th and 3rd in their respective categories.

PTRC win for women at Hammersmith Women's Head

Putney Town women won the WIM2 pennant for a 4th consecutive year at the Quintin Head. The race, over 4000 metres, from Chiswick Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge, took place in cold and windy conditions. The Putney Town women, coxed by Emma Linthwaite, were the third fastest female crew and took the victory in the WIM2 category at a time of 13.11.5 minutes.

PTRC Women - Quintin Head 2011

The various different squads will be holding their season kick-off meetings in the coming few days, to discuss the coming season, aims and ambition and to postpone doing an ergo for one more evening.

The meeting is for all those returning from the summer break, and we welcome all experienced rowers who are choosing a London based rowing club to attend or are considering trying out another club.  We have active groups for all levels of rowing (including an active veteran men’s group) so you are sure to find one group suits your level.

Meetings are as follows:

• Men – both senior men and intermediate men: 8pm Tuesday 14th September
• Senior Women: 8pm Wednesday 15th September (7:15 for existing club members)
• Intermediate Women: 8pm Monday 20th September
• Veteran Men: Sunday 19th September at 12:30pm

Enquiries should be directed to

• menscaptain@putneytownrc.co.uk
• womenscaptain@putneytownrc.co.uk
• veteranmen@putneytownrc.co.uk

Note that this is aimed at those who already row. For details of our Learn to Row courses, please see the notice about open days.

It was a very successful weekend for the Putney Town women at the British Rowing Championships, July 16 – 18, 2010. The women collected bronze medals in both the women’s lightweight 4- and the women’s open 8+. Following a long journey to Strathclyde in Scotland, the women were highly motivated to perform well and finish the season on a high.

The lightweight 4- with Hazel Tyldesley (stroke), Suzie Fairley (3), Laragh Walton (2) and Silje Ross (bow) was in tough competition against Mortlake Anglian Alpha BC (winners), Marlow RC and Vesta RC. The Putney Town LWT 4- took the bronze before Vesta at a time of 7:32.97 minutes over the 2000 metres.

The Putney Town 8+, coxed by Chris Carlson, finished third with a time of 6.57.84 minutes after a composite with GB Juniors (winners) and City of Oxford RC in second place, just ahead at 6:56.90. The racing crew was Kate de Bruyn (stroke), Julie Lewis (7), Hayley Cripps (6), Louise Bartlett (5), Amelia Smith (4), Kelly Thomas (3), Elizabeth McLoughlin (2) and Sofia Nilsson (bow).

Putney Town Women's 8+ in action at British Rowing Championships 2010

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The Putney Town women had a very successful day at Poplar Regatta, May 16, 2010. The racing crew was winning the Greenwich Challenge Cup, WIM2 8+ and the WIM3 8+ category. These wins build on a season of consistent training and a very enjoyable training camp in perfect conditions in Brive la Gaillard, Bordeaux, France, April 2010.

Putney Town winners of the Greenwich Challenge Cup, WIM2 8+ at Poplar Regatta, May 2010. From left: Sofia Nilsson, Amelia Smith, Louise Bartlett, Tuyet Wu (cox), Hayley Cripps, Julie Lewis, Elizabeth McLoughlin, Kelly Thomas and Kate de Bruyn.