Intermediate Coxed Fours - The Lester Trophy
This is the event that Maidenhead's Coxed Four of Helen Stewart, Anne Rees, Claire Wallace, Keri Johnson and cox Vickie Sims had been waiting for. All the hard work over the last 12 months was now going to be put to the test.

The event started with a time trial to filter the 52 entrants down to the 32 available places for the heats. Just before all the boats took to the water, the heavens opened, soaking all the crews. Some tried to hide under their boats, but there was no hiding from the rain and the mud - who needs Glastonbury when you have Henley!

Despite being wet and slightly cold, Maidenhead started the time trial well, holding at a pace of 34 strokes per minute. The row went well, with Maidenhead setting a good strong pace, even overtaking Kingston RC in the last 500m of the course. The crew came off the water in good spirits and returned to Maidenhead to dry off and wait nervously to hear if they had qualified.....which they had done.

The first round heat against Twickenham was a tough draw and at the start of the race Maidenhead were a length down. Some crafty calls by cox Vickie upped the pace and the strength of the crew saw them take the lead at 500m and go on to win by 2 lengths.

Round 2 on Saturday morning saw them in a nail biting race against City of Oxford. Again Maidenhead were a length down after the start of the race but fought back to keep in touch. They were struggling to overtake the strong Oxford crew and in the last 500m Vickie was screaming for more power and faster strokes. The crew gave it everything they had, taking the stroke rate from up to 40 and in the last 150m, with supporters running down the towpath shouting encouragement, Maidenhead took the lead and crossed the line ahead of Oxford.

After a few hours rest and a good re-fuel, Maidenhead warmed up for the quarter-finals against Oxford Brookes with fellow MRC member Jo Wright, now racing for her university, in the opposition's coxing seat. The race was always going to be a challenging one as the Met had proven Brookes to be a worthy opponent to some of the best clubs around. This time Maidenhead had a cracking start and took the lead, which unfortunately didn't last as Brookes immediately pushed back to take a 1 length lead which they held over Maidenhead all the way to the finish. Oxford Brookes went on to win the event so congratulations go to Jo and her crew for their superb performance.

The success of this crew is shared across the whole squad and the coaches who trained with them and who have supported them all the way. To reach the quarter finals is something that theycould only have dreamed off last year, but which now is something that they expect and know that they can achieve.