Maidenhead Rowing Club's Women's squad continue to grow as a force to be reckoned with and were involved in one of the most exciting races of the day at Wallingford Regatta on Sunday.

The 20-strong Development Women joined together with members of the Women's squad to turn out two Novice Eights crews, competing in one of the last races of the day at Dorney Lake, Eton.

The two crews (Maidenhead 'A' and 'B') raced alongside each other in a nail-biting, 1500m race that saw Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls lead from the start. After a slow start, Maidenhead 'A' (Blin, Macbeth, Perry, Wallace, Pearson, Jacobs, Thomas and Bennett-Baggs) began a massive charge, powering past the other 4 crews and overlapping the stern of the leading boat, making for an thrilling end to a terrific contest.

Despite their best efforts, the Haberdashers' were able to hang on to their lead, just pipping Maidenhead 'A' to the post by 1 second in a time of 5:42.

The 'B' crew (Colley, Priestman, Braddick, Tope, van Diem, Fullick, Gower and Edwards) also put in a strong performance finishing in 6th place in a time of 6:09.

The crews now look forward to more success at Bedford Amateur Regatta on Saturday 14 May.