A TEAM of seven ladies from Cotehele Quay Gig Club took part in London's Great River Race this month, rowing 21 miles along the Thames from Millwall to Ham alongside more than 300 crews from around the world in a variety of traditional man-powered boats.

The ladies completed the race in a very respectable time of two hours and 53 minutes.

Fiona Macinnes, who rowed in the race, said: 'What a fantastic event and a very testing race.

'Jerry Lawrence our cox did a brilliant job of driving us hard whilst keeping us motivated. 

'Although a beautiful day the water was very choppy in parts and we were rowing into a strong breeze for most of the race. There are so many boats on the river that the cox has to be looking ahead and anticipating at all times.

'The ages of our crew varied from 19 to 54 and it is really gratifying to achieve a personal challenge but also to work as a crew and help each other through the last couple of miles when tiredness and pain kick in.

'The memory of that exhaustion soon faded once we were sitting in the sunshine sipping champagne and comparing blisters. All of us said without hesitation that we would do it again!'

 It was the second time this year that Cotehele Quay Gig Club's Cream of Cornwall has taken to the Thames after being invited to take part in the Royal Thames Jubilee Pageant in June.