Guernsey Press

LISTEN: The tide is right for Sark to Jersey return

ROWING’S big inter-insular showdown – the Sark to Jersey – is good to go on Saturday 10 July.

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Pulling power: The superb Le Mont Saint women’s quad crew in a recent race. (Picture by Martin Gray, 29616755)

There remains the possibility of landing restrictions as per any Covid rules at that time, but the annual 26km spectacle is set to unfold in all of its gruelling glory.

That revelation came as music to the ears of the outstanding Le Mont Saint women’s quad.

LMS’s experienced cox Neil Brennan and bow specialist Liz Beausire – who would normally be joined on board by Hannah Guilbert, Kris Vavere and Georgia Denziloe – shared their delight on the latest Guernsey Press Sport Podcast, out now.

LISTEN HERE...

Hot on the agenda is the nine-year-old class record of 2hrs 5min. 54sec.

‘The current ladies’ record is a very, very good record,’ Brennan said.

‘If we got anywhere close to that, we’d be over the moon.

‘We’re just delighted that we can have a crack at it – whether we beat it or not, who knows?

‘It’s down to so many variables, but if we can turn up on the start line, we’re in with a shout.’

That esteemed record is Guernsey-owned and it withstood a similar bid back in 2019.

That year Beausire was instrumental in throwing together a crack women’s quad, which also included cox Brennan and Vavere, plus Ilze Briggs and Martine Middleton, but poor conditions scuppered an otherwise superb effort and led to them finishing more than three minutes outside.

But the current LMS squad will be very well prepared.

Using the same flagship Out of the Blue boat, the women have gained valuable experience training and competing locally as a crew since 2020, including multiple class records.

‘That’s where you realise that actually just rowing together plays a massive part in it,’ Beausire said.

‘I think we’ve really gelled as a crew. We formed last year and you don’t know how you’re going to do when you get into a boat with four.

‘It doesn’t matter if those rowers are really good rowers on their own or in their own right – you put them together and they just might not gel.

‘It’s taught me that just rowing together in training, and good coaching, really makes such a big difference.’