Exmouth rowers take on the heat of a summer regatta

No matter. Cox of the ERC women’s Quad ‘A’ crew was Joey Stafford. Countless early training sessions these past few weeks have seen him and his crew - Anna Childs, Marie Guingouain, Florence Lock, and Milly Currans – on the water minutes after sunrise, putting in the sustained effort that should carry them through the coming six kilometres.

“We got a magic start,” said Joey, “which was no accident. Races are often won or lost in those first few seconds and so we’ve been practising starts over and over these last few weeks. You have to have the nose of the boat bang on the line, with the crew all revved up and ready for lift off. Then we’re away.”

Exmouth Women’s ‘A’ powered into the lead and by the first buoy they were metres of clear water ahead of the rest of the field. “Nothing in a successful boat should be left to chance,” added Joey. “We’ve spent months and months coming together as a crew. Individually, these women are all accomplished rowers but the trick is to build those talents into a collective machine that can destroy the opposition.

“We start with the obvious. Each stroke we take is a very complex action, and that’s the key to everything else. And so we break the stroke down to its separate components, and then rebuild the jigsaw so that the boat is running at maximum efficiency. Put technique and strength and stamina together, be fiercely critical of yourself and each other, and you get speed through the water. Maintain that over six kilometres, and the race is yours.”

And so it turned out. Exmouth Ladies ‘A’, already the toast of ERC, crossed the line nearly two minutes ahead of the next crew to finish.

At the end of October, they’re competing in the Swiss Championships on Lake Lausanne. For Joey Stafford, and his indomitable crew, this is yet another chance to carry the name of Exmouth Rowing Club into battle.