Tag Archives: Hannah Crone

Stratford and K.E.S. Have A Busy Week!

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An early start at Dorney Rowing Lake for the 2024 Oarsport Junior Sculling head was a picture of determination as Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s WJ16 quad category competitors including the crew of Lily Warren, Poppy Baines, Sophie Evans, and Alice Jones took to the water, The event, a testament to individual skill in the art of sculling, was a grueling test of endurance and strategy over the twin 1800-metre courses. The young athletes, juggling the demands of sport and academia, faced a field of fifty four crews in their division in a race that was as much about mental fortitude as it was about physical prowess. Despite their valiant effort and a commendable comeback in the latter half, the girls’ early pace wasn’t enough to secure a top finish. Commenting Colin Bell, J16 Coach, “However, the lessons learned are invaluable, and with a training day scheduled in two weeks at Dorney, they have the opportunity to refine their technique and strategy, turning the tide of their performance in preparation for the challenges ahead.”

Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s J14 boys’ quad of were racing at the Olympic standard venue for the very first time. They sculled with fine technique in blustery but dry conditions and showed great consistency throughout, finishing twentieth out of forty crews in their division. A very proud J14 Coach Hugo Happel said, “I’m so incredibly proud of the boys: not only did they show great skill and energy management on the water, the way they prepared before boating was exemplary.”

Stratford’s J15 squad were represented by Maeve Dunn, Millie Smith, Tessa Parkin, Becca Smith and Poppy Warren (coxswain) in the coxed quadruple sculls event. After a strong first leg putting them in thirteenth position, the crew steeled themselves for the return 1800m. A ding dong battle over the final 500m with Wallingford Rowing Club saw the crew return a result of twenty first overall from the fifty seven crews racing in their division.”

Earlier in the week, Stratford’s sister club King Edward V1 School Boat Club, having had a very wet season and having all the events they have entered so far cancelled, headed down to London on Wednesday for the Schools’ Head of the River Race. Once again they had entered the School Mixed Eights’ category with a crew of A.Appleton, J. Long, D. Shilvock, J.Warner, A. Mathers, M. Hall, W. Dalrymple-Baker, K. Richardson and I. Hill. Only two of the crew and cox remained the same as last year’s crew and with little to no racing so far, they had no idea how well it would go. With the whole event potentially in jeopardy due to high flow rates, it was a great feeling once the crew were on the water and heading to their marshaling point. Going off at place 282, the crew had quite a wait on the water until it was go time. Leading off their category down the championship course cox Hill steered an excellent course and while doing so also kept the crew on top of their rowing.

Commenting, Hannah Crone, Head of Rowing at K.E.S. said, “Finishing fourth in a very respectable time and not far off the top crews and despite their initial disappointment with the result, the crew were happy with their row and their time: they should all be proud of themselves for the effort and performance they put in on the back of little race experience.”

On Wednesday Stratford’s junior 17/18 women’s quad also headed to London for the first national race of the season on the Tideway. After fears of cancellation, perfect conditions made for an exciting and fast race. A strong pace was set by V Vondrak in the stroke seat with Uch Nwachukwu and Scarlett Richardson providing the power in the middle of the boat. The crew came under pressure from some extremely strong crews however Lucy Sartain in the bow seat was unfazed and steered a strong line down the course whilst going blade to blade with the top boats in the country. The crew finished the 6.8km course strongly in a very respectable time of 20:17.1 to put them 21st out of 30 top level boats.

For media coverage, please see Stratford Herald page forty four and Stratford Observer online https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-stratford-boat-clubs-young-rowers-impress-at-oarsport-junior-sculling-head

For pictures of Scullery, see Stuart Baines’ great selection at https://1drv.ms/f/s!AiW2DAyn9tg9j-UffQM-vzC8bM9Wjg

Busy Coronation Weekend for Stratford & K.E.S. in Munich, Dorney Lake & Shrewsbury

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Busy Coronation Weekend for Stratford & K.E.S. in Munich, Dorney Lake & Shrewsbury. Harriet Noyes won her first GB vest after a gruelling selection process that started in October 2022. After training hard over the winter at their home clubs, the athletes looked forward to Munich as this was the first opportunity to see how their junior crew measured up against international competition.

Rowing in a pair with Isadora Kennedy on Saturday, Harriet won a bronze medal in a very tight final finishing less than a second behind her teammates in the other GB boat.

On Sunday Harriet and her pair’s partner Isadora were entered in the Coxless Four event. They went out hard leading the field by over a length at the halfway marker. Gradually the Swiss crew started to reel them in as the second GB crew held on to third place. Harriet’s crew picked up the rate to 38 stroke per minute in the last 250 meters to take the gold medal by half a length.

Sam Hill, Harriet’s J17/18 Coach at Stratford said, “Munich has proved to be a remarkable international debut for Harriet and we hope she can continue to represent GB U19s through the summer regatta season.”

Commenting further, Dawson Curnock, Stratford Boat Club’s Chairman said, “The whole Club would like to firstly send massive congratulations to Harriet on her outstanding performances in Munich: we are more than proud of her. Furthermore, congratulations also need to go to her coaches at Stratford upon Avon for matching her goals with their expertise to facilitate the opportunity to get to row for GBR along with her crew at the Club as well. Nor must we not also forget her crew members at Munich, thank you for looking after Harriet, pulling together when it matters, greater together! Lastly, thank you to Team GBR for giving Harriet this great chance: she will not let you down!”

Also finishing off the Coronation weekend were two members from Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s Mixed Ability/Adaptive squad who attended Shrewsbury Sprint Regatta.

Commenting, Mark Dewdney, Stratford’s Head Adaptive Coach said, “After three event cancellations, it was relief to get two members of the squad competing. Unfortunately, many of the large boat club adaptive squads may have to wait to June to make their regatta season debut.”

Andy Morris’s final in the PR3 (limb) singles’ event was against a sculler from Runcorn: the Runcorn man started slightly better than his Stratford opponent and established a small early lead. However, Andy’s more polished technique and race experience soon began to tell. By halfway, Andy had passed the Runcorn competitor. He consistently built on his lead and won the race by about three lengths.

Jake Blatcher in the Open singles mainstream event raced a Shrewsbury local Pengwern competitor in his final. Unfortunately, a rather untidy first hundred metres put him well behind: a deficit he was not able to claw back on the 600m course. It was a good performance spoilt by the start in the final. Jake is due to compete again at Monmouth in three weeks’ time.

Also over the Coronation weekend on Sunday, Stratford Boat Club’s sister club King Edward VI School Boat Club departed Stratford at 06.00hrs and headed to Dorney Lake to compete in the Ball Cup South Regatta. The original Ball Cup Challenge was founded by K.E.S. in 1934 so this regatta is a big one for the school. It is now held over the last 750m of the 2km Olympic lake.

K.E.S. took a squad of fourteen athletes entered across six different events. First up were the J18 double sculls: this event consisted of three heats where the fastest six crews across the board qualified for the final. K.E.S.’s A crew of Tomi Wilcock and Ed Rose rowed in the second heat and had a good start, taking an early lead, they paced the race well maintaining a lively rate and crossed the line first. In the third heat the B crew of Tom Beard and Rafa MacDonald had a steady start and settled into a good pace and started to pick up in the last 150m but it wasn’t quite enough and finished in second place. The times were out almost immediately and it was pleasing to see both crews had qualified for the final in first and fourth positions. An hour later, both crews boated for their final, Tomi and Ed in Lane Three and Tom and Rafa in Lane Five. Tom and Rafa had a superb start taking an early lead but unfortunately couldn’t hold the pace as the faster crews settled into their rhythm and steadily went ahead. Tom and Ed had a good start and settled again into a nice lively rhythm really pushing the other crews: their final sprint saw them pulling away to take the win over Itchen Imperial and Radnor College with Tom and Rafa finishing in fourth place.

Up next was the Girls Ball Cup 4+ event. The K.E.S. crew of Imogen Hill, Lucy Browne, Maddie Hall, Kate Richardson and Amalia Richardson (cox) were a scratch crew having only had one outing in this combination. They went off the start cautiously but quickly and soon found themselves in the lead in this straight final of three boats. They soon settled in and had found their rhythm, looking neat they gradually pulled away from the crews from Sydenham High School and Cambridge City to take the win and claim the trophy!

Ten minutes later was the J18 4x of Tomi Wilcock, Tom Wheeler, Tom Beard and Ed Rose. Another straight final with some stiff competition from the likes of Whitgift School and Globe Rowing Club. The boys had a strong start and kept up the pace throughout: they were just squeezing out in front when unfortunately they clipped the buoys and one of the crew caught their blade under the water and this saw them drop almost to last place. With the adrenaline now flowing, they absolutely flew back into contention but unfortunately didn’t have enough course left and came home in bronze medal position finishing just 0.4 seconds behind silver.

In the third division of the day, Tom Wheeler went out to race in the J18 1x sculls: this was a packed event with three heats, the same format as the doubles earlier in the day. Tom’s second race in the single, he started well and sculled professionally throughout, pushing on into the last 150m. He finished fourth in his heat: unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to see him through to the final finishing eighth overall.

Finally it was the turn of the Boys Ball Cup fours with a straight final between K.E.S. A crew of Tomi Wilcock, Tom Beard, Rafa Macdonald, Ed Rose and Imo Hill and K.E.S. B crew of David Shilvock, Tom Woodcock, Milo Cullimore, Joe Warner and Kate Richardson. The A crew had a fantastic row in almost perfect conditions to take a convincing win, beating the winning time from last year’s regatta. For three of the B crew, this was their second ever race with the whole crew having only started rowing in September. They had a good row and it was a fantastic experience for them and they will be back next year to take the win!

Commenting, Hannah Crone, Head of Rowing at King Edward VI School, “Overall, a great day for K.E.S. Boat Club, claiming a total of five medals from seven crews!”

For media coverage, see Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-busy-coronation-weekend-for-stratford-in-munich-dorney-lake-and-shrewsbury, Stratford Herald page fifty five and British Rowing https://www.britishrowing.org/2023/05/gb-junior-rowers-bring-home-a-flurry-of-medals-from-munich-international-junior-regatta-2023

Good and Less Good Fortunes at Worcester for Stratford’s Masters and KES!

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On Saturday 11 February, Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s Women’s Masters crew of Ruth Poulten, Paola Ward, Clare Booth and Rona Fitzpatrick in a coxless quad took part in the Worcester Head of The River, a 6km race on the River Severn. The crew were unable to find their form in this year’s Worcester Head, despite near perfect conditions. The crew had been hoping to repeat their win from last year but it was not to be.

Being brought to a halt in the final third of the race by erratic steering from a coxed quad added to the crew’s disappointment and frustration. Even so, it was a good 12km with great team spirit as always and the shouts of support from those on the riverside were fantastic and very much appreciated. Nonetheless, the crew had a very solid race over the long course and continued to record a very admirable time of 26 minutes and 37 seconds. Crew member Paola Ward commented, “Onwards and upwards to the next race!”

Saturday also saw the continuing training progress towards the national eights race in London in March for Stratford Boat Club’s combined men’s masters eight with Bridgnorth Rowing Club. The crew, which has been training since before Christmas, was looking to follow on from a solid performance and win at Stourport Head two weeks earlier with an improved performance at Worcester Head. The event held on the River Severn, one of the longest races in the country at over 6km, promised a great day’s racing with a large turnout of eights men’s and women’s crews. With perfect rowing conditions and little wind, the stage was set for some fast times.

The Stratford/Bridgnorth crew were up against crews from Bristol Ariel, Bewdley, Evesham, Pengwern (Shrewsbury), Avon Country and Monmouth in several masters’ age categories making for some good competition. The race was a chance for the crew to try out Bridgnorth’s brand new racing Stampfli eight and the boat did not disappoint as the crew set off at a lively race pace of 32 strokes per minute.

Race conditions and a clear river meant there were no issues with having to overtake slower crews and this enabled the crew to settle into a nice cadence at 32 strokes per minute for the whole of the race, which saw them close on the preceding crew which was Pengwern. Given the large gaps between crews at the start for safety reasons, it was unlikely that any crews would be fully caught on the course so it was important to focus on the crews own performance. Closing past Worcester’s impressive clubhouse saw an uplift in crew effort as supporters’ cheers became audible. The race was by no means over however with a further two kilometres still to race.

A further push took the crew through the narrow road bridge arches in the centre of Worcester and part the magnificent riverside cathedral to set up a final effort down the finishing straight. The effort was not in vain however as the crew recorded a very satisfactory win in a time of 20 mins and 52 seconds. Said stroke Paul Wallis, “This was our first outing in the new boat and the race was all about getting used to the feel and run of the boat rather than focusing on just racing so to come away with a win was very satisfying.” The crew’s training continues with eyes now turned to Runcorn Head on 25th February and a further step up in quality opposition from north of England clubs.

Also racing at Worcester was Stratford’s sister club, King Edward The Sixth School Boat Club who had a very successful day taking the win in the J18 4x section over experienced first crews from Kings School Worcester and Royal Grammar School Worcester in convincing fashion over the 6km course. The quad, consisting of Tomi Wilcock, Tom Beard, Tom Wheeler and Ed Rose, had a steady start to the race and were able to find their rhythm and put in a strong first half to the race. After a well managed first half, the cheers from the bank at the 3km mark lifted the crew and they began to extend their lead over the competition. A strong push to the finish saw them overtake an university eight and close the gap on the Kings School Worcester crew who started off ahead on the course. Commenting, Hannah Crone, KES’s rowing coach said, “An exceptional time of 20 minutes and 22 seconds saw KES placed eight in the division and also placed as the second fastest quad of the day!”

For media coverage, see Stratford Herald page forty three and Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-mixed-results-for-stratford-crews-at-worcester

Stratford’s Juniors Conquer The Severn!

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On Sunday, Stratford upon Avon Boat Club junior squads went in force to Stourport Winter Head: the J17/18 squad started the day with singles’ events, which featured Will Beattie and Toby Sartain in the J18 category and Charles Happel in the J17 category. Beattie sculled to his usual high standard, finishing strongly to win the event and was followed down the course by Sartain who crossed the line in second place to round out a 1-2 finish for Stratford. Happel came next and sculled to a similar high standard also to claim second place in his event. Next up was the WJ18 pair of Amalia Richardson and Kate Richardson who, despite being relatively new to the pairs event, rowed proficiently and came home in first place. Finally, the afternoon division saw the two J18 doubles of Will Beattie and Tomi Wilcock and Charles Happel and Toby Sartain take on the 4km course: Beattie and Wilcock set off first sculling typically well on their way to win the event just ahead of Happel and Sartain who also sculled confidently to complete an excellent overall performance for the squad in second place.

For Stratford’s J16 squad, the morning division saw the coxless quad of Aimee Appleton, Scarlett Richardson, Molly Vondrack with Megan Rowan in the stroke seat put on an impressive display of sculling to beat the home Stourport boat by 12.5 seconds and take first place. In the afternoon three doubles of Lucy Sartain and Jess Long, Eloise Cooper and Nancy Davis, Ez Elfwood and Harriet Froom all competed to a very high standard and finished with seven seconds of each other over the 4k course. In the end it was Elfwood and Froom who missed out on a second place by just 1 second to take 3rd with Sartain and Long 0.8sec behind them followed by Cooper and Davis. Finally, Jamie Wilcock competed in the singles event and was in the lead at the halfway stage before a collision caused him to lose time and finish second overall.

For the J14 and J15 squads, the weekend saw the Stratford upon Avon Boat Club athletes from across the age ranges compete on the Severn in the “Blackpool of the Black Country, Stourport-on-Severn”! The 4000m course running with the stream presented a good opportunity for all to display the fruits of their winter training over a longer distance. Conditions on the day were superb with a light breeze and sunshine threatening to make an appearance on occasion.

In Division One, Stratford’s J14s fielded two WJ14 double sculls combinations. The crew of Josephine Cooper and Sophie Franklin powered down the course in style to finish over a minute ahead of Avon County Rowing Club and Evesham Rowing Club. The win however was taken by Maeve Dunn and Bryony Francis by a margin of just three seconds with a superb performance. The J15 squad fielded a coxed four into the event but, without opposition in their age range, took on senior crews. The crew of  Theo Richter, Seth Vondrak, Xavier Sissins-Roffey, Oliver Rowlands and James Albrighton (coxswain) thundered down the course to take the win in emphatic style.

In Division Two, the WJ14 coxed quadruple scull of Sophie Warren, Isla Dunn, Becca Smith, Martha Cooke and Josephine Cooper (coxswain) delivered a stonking row to take the win over quality opposition from Trentham Boat Club and Hereford Cathedral School.  The quadruple scull event was followed by the toughest event of the day by far, the single sculls. Testing themselves, representing Stratford were the J14 girls of Martha Baines, Tessa Parkin and Millie Smith. Dicing with strong competition from around the area, they recorded a creditable eighth, fifth and sixth respectively. Commenting, Steve Wellstead, J14 Coach and Junior Co-ordinator said, “No mean feat over the 4000m course so early in their rowing careers. No doubt, these athletes will return to the Severn in the coming years!”

Representing the J15 squad in the women’s double sculls, the powerhouse duo of Alexandra Francis and Poppy Baines provided a show for the assembled crowd with a textbook row, taking the win by a comfortable margin, In the women’s J15 coxed quadruple sculls event, the crew of Sophie Evans, Meg Nuttall, Alice Jones, Lily Warren and Lucy Yang (coxswain) delivered a solid row chasing Ross Rowing Club all the way to achieve a fourth place.

Joining their Stratford colleagues, King Edward The Sixth School Boat Club also headed to Stourport Head. First up in the morning division was the J18 4+ of T. Wilcock, R. Macdonald, T. Wheeler, T. Beard and I. Hill (cox) they were racing in the open men’s category and put in a great performance to see off crews from Warwick BC and Trentham RC to take the win.

The afternoon division saw a debut for our J16 4x of W. Dalrymple-Baker, H. Hoare, A. Mathers and M. Cullimore, three of whom only start rowing in September. Said Hannah Crone, KES Coach, “This was their first race and the aim was to row well and enjoy it: the boys put in a fantastic performance to take the win over Evesham Rowing Club.”

Next up was our WJ18 4+ of A. Richardson, T. Dunn, M. Hall, K. Richardson and I. Hill (cox) again racing in the senior category. Despite a last minute substitution due to injury, the girls had a good row and came out on top ahead of Evesham Rowing Club and Trentham Rowing Club. This topped off a great day for King Edward The Sixth School Boat Club coming home with three wins from three crews.

For media coverage, see Stratford Herald page forty four and Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-stratfords-juniors-conquer-the-severn

For more great pictures of Stourport Winter Head, see Kathy and Stuart Baines’ excellent selection at https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AOAm%5FWXXHbdtI6M&id=8E50DAC120123B06%2190130&cid=8E50DAC120123B06

Stratford and KES Triumph at Worcester!

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Last Saturday saw a number of Stratford upon Avon Boat Club and their sister King Edward The Sixth School Boat Club crews brave the blustery trip to local Midlands club Worcester for one of the longest head races of the year. The event, run over two divisions, saw crews competing over a six kilometre course in challenging river and weather conditions.

The morning division saw King Edward The Sixth School boys crew out with their J17 4x (T. Wilcock, R. Macdonald, T. Beard, E. Rose) on the water. It was the first time this crew had raced and against such a decent field, there was no knowing how they would fare. The conditions were not good, a tough head wind off the start and very choppy into the final five hundred metres. The boys held a good pace throughout and coped with the conditions well. Finishing second behind a strong Llandaff crew and ahead of local school crews was a very promising result.

Division Two saw KES’ Nov 4+ (T. Wheeler, E. Craig, T. Wilcock, E. Rose, J. Mitchell) out again after their victory two weeks ago, with one change in their crew. They were up against different opposition this time. Said Hannah Crone, King Edward The Sixth Rowing Coach, “With the challenging conditions having worsened since the morning, the focus was on keeping it clean and steady. Again they coped well with the conditions and came away with their second win of the season.”

Following on behind the King Edward The Sixth School boys was Stratford’s first crew in the event. Racing in a men’s quadruple sculls event (four scullers) was a mixed male and female crew from Upton and Stratford clubs. The crew, which just missed out on a win at the prestigious fours event in London by two tenths of a second, was keen to bounce back from disappointment with a solid performance.

Chasing down a fast men’s Minerva crew, the Upton/Stratford crew found themselves in a tussle with a good Warwick men’s crew. The whole race became a consolidated effort to hold off the Warwick men’s crew and prevent them getting any closer. The very blustery headwind combined with a strong stream leading to choppy conditions increased the pressure on the more lightweight Upton/Stratford crew.

Digging deep, the Upton/Stratford crew worked extremely hard to give little away over the six kilometre course and crossed the line with only a few seconds lost to the Warwick crew over the twenty one minute race. Commenting, Tom Doherty, crew captain, said, “Finishing fourth of six in a men’s event and only ten seconds separating the top four crews including Upton/Stratford was a very good achievement of which the crew can be pleased!”

Also taking part in Worcester Rowing Club Main Head on Saturday were Stratford Boat Club’s Daytime/Off-Peak Rowers’ squad. Not only do crews have to race over a distance of six kilometres but the crews also have to row upstream four kilometres to the start, complete the six kilometre downstream race and then row back upstream for an additional two kilometres to return to the boating area!

Conditions were extremely challenging for all crews. High river flow together with an opposing wind which caused rough water conditions in all exposed areas of the river. The last two kilometres of the race, downstream of the clubhouse, were particularly challenging with an additional high swell. During the afternoon division, rain added to the already difficult conditions whilst the crews awaited the start of the race in the marshaling area, exposed to the elements.

The women’s crew of Daytime/Off-Peak rowers – Ruth Poulten (bow), Paola Ward, Clare Booth and Rona Fitzpatrick (stroke) – competed in their first race as a crew in the Women’s Masters Coxless Quad (W4x-) category. Having mastered the high river flow for the first part of the course, the crew passed the clubhouse spectator area at the four kilometre race distance. The crew were rowing very smoothly and efficiently, making good of the atrocious conditions, unaware of the challenging conditions that lay ahead of them for the remaining two kilometres! The crew completed the race and their time resulted in a first ever race win for the crew!  Commenting on what was a fantastic result for the crew, Alfie Nash, squad coach said, “The crew are very deserving of their win in what were very challenging conditions. The crew maintained good position on the river and demonstrated a high level of resilience and skill.”

Also competing for Stratford Boat Club on this very cold day with blustery strong winds was Stratford’s WJ16 squad yet again proving their skill and power to beat the conditions and competition over the six kilometre downstream course on the river Severn.

The coxed four of Amalia Richardson, Harriet Noyes, Grace Beason, Kate Richardson coxed and steered expertly by Imogen Hill beat the novice crew from Birmingham by almost eight minutes recording a time of 22:38 minutes! Conditions for the final one kilometre could only be described as horrendous with strong winds creating waves cascading over the wave breaker on the four but Stratford battled on through to the finish.

The crew celebrated adding to their collection of “pots” by receiving a very attractive china tankard as reward for rowing four kilometres up to the start, freezing for over an hour waiting for the start then racing six kilometres at pace before rounding off with a two kilometre row back to the club to unload.

Commenting, Steve Marsden, J16 Coach, said, “Such are the joys of winter head racing! It was a particularly pleasing result as Grace had stepped in at very short notice in place of Maddie Hall who was unfortunately ill.”

For media coverage, see Stratford Herald online https://www.stratford-herald.com/sport/rowers-succeed-at-worcester-9240226 and page fifty two and Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-stratford-upon-avon-boat-club-triumph-at-worcester