Home crews dominate autumn head

UPPER Thames Rowing Club secured an impressive 13 wins at their autumn head raced over 3,000m from Greenlands to the regatta finish last Sunday.

Crews faced cool, blustery conditions, with a steady headwind adding an extra challenge along the course for the event that returned after being cancelled the previous two years.

In Division 1, Upper Thames opened with a commanding win in the open masters F eight in a time of
10 minutes and 23 seconds, followed by the open quad, which clocked 10 minutes and two seconds to finish as the third-fastest quad of the day.

The women’s masters B coxless quad also claimed victory in 11 minutes, 45 seconds while the open coxless pair and the Maidenhead/Upper Thames composite in the open masters C coxed four added further wins.

The afternoon’s Division 2 saw the club’s momentum continue. Wins came from the women’s coxless quad, open coxless four and open masters E coxless four, along with victories in the open double sculls and women’s masters A double sculls. The open masters F coxless four also took top honours, while composite entries secured wins in the open masters H coxless quads and H double sculls.

Henley Rowing Club also had a successful day with wins coming from the youngest to eldest of the club’s squads. The U14 girls in their quad scull had a convincing win beating second-placed Thames Scullers by more than two minutes while the boys’ U14 quad beat Reading Bluecoat School and two crews from Wallingford RC for their win.

Likewise, the U15 girls’ quad of Lottie Cotton, Eliza Vann, Darcy Kenny, Amber Kriefman and cox Anton Otenko had a good win against a strong crew from Wallingford.

The U15 boys’ quad of Rohan Shanker, Henry Featherstone, Charlie Chapman, Jonathon Paine and cox Eva Lily Worboys sculled strongly to win their event by
17 seconds, also beating local rivals Wallingford. The second boys’ J15 boat had some steering issues and finished in fifth place. The J16 girls’ quad of Polina Bezuhla, Erin Goodall, Emily Robinson and Camilla Barlow won their event by 24 seconds beating Marlow into second place.

In the sweep boats the junior girls’ coxed four of Evie Meeks, Chloe Hughes, Daisy Millard, Molly Hall and cox Elise Pindoria won their event easily and also beat a number of the women’s eights and all bar one of the coxless fours.

Shiplake Vikings had three crews competing. The WJ15 quad of Isabella Stobjie, Rosa Laming, Ovia Chamberlain, Georgie Liddell and cox Holly Davies finished third in their event in the morning. The quad, who were ranked fifth, finished ahead of crews from Wallingford and Thames Scullers.

In the afternoon, the Vikings WJ16 A quad of Emily Mir, Jess Beazley, Robyn Fielder and Emilia Scott finished third behind Henley A and Marlow A while the WJ16 B crew of Eve Carle, Eliza Gummer, Isla Tate and Adella Streather impressed during their first ever head race.