British crews dominate the Charles as Marlow Youth Coxed Quad sets course record in Boston

Marlow’s triumphant Women’s Youth Coxed Quad. Credit: Allmarkone

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Crews from Marlow Rowing Club and Windsor Boys School Boat Club travelled across the Atlantic to compete at the prestigious Head of the Charles rowing regatta last week, Boston’s global festival of rowing.

Taking place on the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Head of the Charles is known the world over and is similar in stature to the Henley Royal Regatta on the Thames.

It attracts more than 11,000 athletes from across the globe and is the largest three-day rowing event in the world.

Marlow Rowing Club sent three crews to compete at the event, with their junior women’s quad not only winning their event but also setting a new course record in the process.

The meandering course winds its way beneath five bridges and usually provides plenty of thrills and spills with crashes commonplace. It’s a challenge for rowers and their coxes, but Marlow’s teams were outstanding in every aspect, with all three of their crews finishing on the podium.

The Women’s Youth Coxed Quad crew of Eve Pinsent - 17 (MRC), Ione Haley - 18 (MRC), Lauren Kennedy - 17 (MRC), Aurelia Kemmis - 17 (MRC) and cox Josephina Rowe - 16 (MRC) showed their class and promise for the future as they worked their way through the field to take gold in a record time of 17.32.

Starting right at the bottom of the field in 45th place, they managed to shave 37 seconds off the record to seal victory from favourites Los Gatos 'A' in second and Waterford 'A' in third.

There were also bronze medals for Jac Easton in the Women’s Veteran Individual 1X competition and in the Directors Challenge Mixed 2X competition where Jac Easton 64 (MRC) and Marco Sharif - 60 (RRA) finished in third place behind top seeds City of Cambridge, who finished second and USTC - Sarasota in first.

“The Head of the Charles is a huge event with global participation, to not only win their category but break the event record so comprehensively is deeply impressive and testament to the huge amount of training and preparation put in by the crew and their coaches; in particular, head coach, Peter Chambers,” said Mike Parsons, head of Marlow Rowing Club.

“There is a huge amount to celebrate and be thankful for. We also need to thank all the parents involved in setting this up who made a trip like this possible.”

Windsor Boys School also entered a couple of crews in the Head of the Charles.

Their eights crew raced impressively, starting close to the bottom of the field in 68th and rising to finish in 19th place.

But their achievements were eclipsed by the performances of the two quad crews in the Men’s Youth Coxed Quads race.

The B crew of Joe Melville - 16 (WBS), Pierce Brian Woods - 17 (WBS), Alex Calver - 17 (WBS), Ciaran Reilly - 17 (WBS) and cox Harry Middleton - 15 (WBS) - coached by Mark Wilkinson - raced to finish in 12th place (16:28.589), just outside of the top 10 which was headed by the school’s A crew.

The team of Bailey Taylor - 18 (WBS), Isaac Thornton - 17 (WBS), Joey Hill - 17 (WBS), Castor Chute - 17 (WBS) and cox Alex Kosydar - 16 (WBS) - coach Mark Wilkinson (WBS) - produced a hugely impressive race to win in a time of 15:33.578.

They won the event from St Catharines A team in second and Belen Jesuit A Crew in third.

“To win this once is an incredible feat but Windsor Boys not only defended their title but that is a hat trick of wins in Boston at Head of the Charles,” said Ryan Rees-Jones, boat club chair.