Three Schools, One Crew, One Club!

Stratford upon Avon Boat Club sent a crew to the world renowned Henley Royal Regatta Qualifiers recently. The crew of Will Beattie, Tomi Wilcock, Charles Happel and Toby Sartain who are from Stratford School, King Edward VI School and Kineton High School competed in the Junior Quads event, The Fawley Challenge Cup. This was the first time in a number of years that Stratford Boat Club has entered a crew to race at Henley Royal Regatta and one of the first times ever that a crew has been entered into The Fawley Challenge Cup.

The Fawley Challenge Cup is one of the biggest events of the regatta with seventy crews entered, only twenty four go into the regatta draw. Sixteen of the crews had already been pre-selected based on performances throughout the season and this meant the remaining fifty four crews needed to go through the qualifying heats to take the final eight slots.

The Stratford crew put in a strong effort with their best row of the season and a brilliant course steered by Toby Sartain. Unfortunately, the lightweight crew were not fast enough to qualify in the strong headwind conditions.

J17 Coach Abi Terry said, “It was great to see this talented group of lads competing on the course alongside the best crews in the world. During warm up, they were followed by the GB men’s eight and the GB women’s four, something that doesn’t happen at any other event! I am so proud of this group and all that they have achieved!”

Commenting further, Paul Stanton, Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s President said, “Racing at Henley Royal Regatta is the dream of every rower and the fact that these J17 rowers have achieved this at a comparatively young age speaks volumes for their determination and hours of effort put into their training over the last five years. Moreover, it is a testament to the massive effort that their dedicated coaches have put into their development: Stratford Boat Club is forever indebted to our coaches and all volunteers who selflessly give their time and expertise week after week!”

Although it’s definitely not Henley, Stratford Boat Club’s Fun Regatta is this coming Saturday 08 July with racing from 09.00 through 16.30hrs and presentations by Stratford upon Avon’s Mayor Cllr Kate Rolfe at 17.00hrs for the wining crews and fancy dress! Bar, tea tent and catering wagon in the Boat Club’s grounds all day: all are welcome!

For media coverage see Stratford Herald page forty five and online https://www.stratford-herald.com/sport/quad-squad-relish-henley-experience-9320309 and Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-stratford-boat-club-represented-in-prestigious-henley-royal-regatta-qualifiers

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

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

Horrendous Conditions on Severn and Taff!

The weekend saw Stratford upon Avon Boat Club athletes from across the age ranges compete on the Severn at Stourport. The 3600m 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 challenging and although the rain stayed away, the sleet and strong wind presented the competing athletes with a real test of endurance.

In Division One, first to go was the Women’s J16 coxless quadruple scull of Jasmine Mountney, Nixie Brunt, Mili Wilcock and Alice Baines. Rowing up an age group with J18 athletes, the crew set their mark on the event with a confident win. Next the J16 single sculler Fred Tyler braved the course missing out on the win by just one second to strong opposition from Trentham Boat Club. The third J16 sculler in the mix was Maiya James who despite the tricky conditions delivered a solid row and recorded third place. The J15 squad was represented in the coxed quadruple sculls event by crews consisting of Sienna Rawlings, Amelie Sartain, Julia Zampronio Gurden, Abbey Meggeson and Mary Walton (coxswain) first away and closely followed by Sophie Elstone, Harriet Hodgson, Martha Usselmann, Emma Harrison and Elisabeth Edwards (coxswain) second down the track. In the final analysis the Meggeson crew had the edge by just two seconds over their club mates despite a damaged rudder from the start.

In Division Two, the Women’s J16 coxless quadruple scull of Jasmine Mountney, Maiya James, Mili Wilcock and Alice Baines demonstrated the results of their winter training programme and recorded another win, this time in the J16 category. Said Steve Wellstead, Junior Co-ordinator, “Exciting times for this outfit as they look forward to the 2019 season.”

Fred Tyler also took the water for a second time, this time in the J17 category but once again was thwarted by the Trentham Boat Club athletes with another second place by the narrowest of margins. For the J15 squad it was an afternoon of the third place results with the double scull of Will Clarke and Conar Aitchison, the women’s double scull of Amelie Sartain and Martha Usselmann and the women’s single scull of Sophie Elstone all in the bronze medal position. In the J18 event, Dom Furey rowed the course with his typical flair ending in a solid second place. The women’s J17 double scull of Autumn Keil and Katie Phillips joined the J15 squad in the creditable third place against strong competition.

King Edward VI School’s squad competed alongside sister club Stratford at Stourport Head in testing conditions of cold and gusting wind. First to boat was the boys’ four of Joe, Cameron, Adam, Felix and Lara for a first race in this combination. The long wait to start meant the crew used the time well to warm-up and drill, letting them settle their technique for the race despite never having raced together before. Up against crews from Warwick and Stourport, they quickly left the Warwick crew behind to maintain a distance from Stourport (also a J17 crew) and were awarded joint first place.

Next to boat was Fred, a J16 sculler in his first race for this squad, in a single. He coped well with the conditions which tested all of the single scullers and raced a good line, maintaining his long stroke against other boys who included a Great Britain trial athlete. No medal for Fred on the day but he showed his potential for the squad.

Said Helen Smith, King Edward V1 School coach, “A second successful weekend for the athletes following several Northampton wins just a week ago this young squad continue to show their potential which will develop over the next few years at School.”

Meanwhile in Cardiff, the hail, rain, sleet and ferocious winds welcomed Stratford’s Woman Master Christine Goodwin back to the Head of the Taff this year. The course had to be shortened for the afternoon due to capsizes, boat collisions and other incidents in the famous railway tunnels. Sadly all the other Masters women dropped out of both divisions, leaving sole competitor Christine with no opposition for her race so a ‘time only’ result. Said Christine, “I think when my only remaining fellow Masters’ Woman opposition rowed back to the boathouse after only 250m, I realised this was going to be ‘ staying alive’ type row and it definitely was!”

For DP Photos excellent select for Stourport Head, please see https://www.dpphotos.co.uk/Stourport-Head-Div-2-Jan-2019.

For media coverage, please see Stratford Herald page 14