Tag Archives: Henley Royal Regatta course

Henley Triumphs for Stratford!

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On Saturday 2nd November, Stratford upon Avon Boat Club Junior Squad travelled south to the spiritual home of rowing, Henley on Thames, to compete in the annual Long Distance Sculls event.  Contested over 3km on Henley Reach the event attracts top clubs and schools from around the country.  With higher than normal stream levels the conditions favoured those who steered a canny course close to the bank. The Stratford J16 squad competed twice in both J16 and J18 events with the first crews to boat in WJ16 double sculls. The double scull of Martha Baines and Poppy Warren delivered a solid row to record fifth place; Tessa Parkin and Josephine Cooper achieved eighth and Sophie Franklin and Becca Smith came home tenth. The WJ16 single scull athletes of Poppy Warren, Tessa Parkin and Becca Smith achieved seventh, ninth and tenth respectively. Rowing up to the J18 category, the J16 athletes delivered strong second rows on the Henley course with single scullers Maeve Dunn, Martha Cooke, Isla Dunn and Millie Smith achieving creditable placings of fourteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth and twenty first respectively. In the J18 double sculls event, Martha Baines and Maeve Dunn ranked eleventh, Millie Smith and Martha Cooke ranked sixteenth and the crew of Josephine Cooper and Isla Dunn coming home twentieth after being obstructed by a slower crew for the final 500m of the course.

With the usual first races of the season being cancelled, the J17/18 squad turned up at Henley excited at the prospect of some racing. With fine conditions but still some strong stream to contend with, the first Stratford crew of the day consisted of Aimee Appleton, Lucy Sartain, Lily Warren and Poppy Baines racing in the WJ18 quads. Executing a blistering start, the quad stormed down the course to claim sixth place in a competitive field. Next up were the J17/18 double of Jamie Wilcock and Seth Vondrak racing for the first time together. They sculled well and fought hard down the course to overtake a crew in the final stretch to secure eleventh place. The afternoon division saw V Vondrak and Scarlett Richardson compete in the WJ18 2x event. Settling in quickly to their race pace, rowing a good length and rhythm they overtook one crew in the first 1500m and continued pushing all the way to the finish to earn a very respectable third place. Finally, racing a year up in the J18 1x Xavier Sissins-Roffey got off to a quick start and fought hard all the way to earn himself fortieth of fifty five in a competitive field. J17/18 coach Eric Appleton said, “This was the first chance to race for many of the squad in over the last three months so it was good to get out and put all the hard training into practice on such a famous stretch of river. We’re very happy with the performances and looking forward to the next race.”

Stratford Masters WMD4x squad of Ellie Davis, Gina Fusco, Christine Goodwin and Ruth Poulten were inspired by the opportunity to race the iconic Henley Royal Regatta Course and it didn’t disappoint! Starting 3K downstream, conditions were good with five other crews competing in their category. The crew got off to a great start settling in to their planned rate twenty eight strokes per minute but a strong Marlow quad forced them into the middle of the river at the famous Temple Island and into a challenging upstream current. Undeterred and motivated by the encouragement at recent indoor ergo sessions, the Stratford crew held their line for the rest of the course racing side by side with the Marlow club to the finish and finished in a respectable fifth place.

Nick Sartain represented the Stratford’s Masters men. It proved to be a demanding race, especially given the lack of recent long distance training, against a competitive field. Pleased with his performance, Nick is looking forward to Stourport Head next weekend.

For media coverage, see Stratford Herald page forty three https://digital.imnews.app/app/STR931/editionguid/ca79aa62-774f-4c6b-814b-9ee8a4bc1fa5 and online https://www.stratford-herald.com/sport/junior-rowers-tackle-long-distance-event-9390768 and Stratford Observer back sports page https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/editions/view/?/Stratford/2024/11/08&pages=32 and also online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-stratford-upon-avon-juniors-oar-some-displays-at-henley-upon-thames

For more great pictures of Henley LDS, see Stuart Baines’ excellent selection https://1drv.ms/f/s!AiW2DAyn9tg9kJVQ1KjfA4EylOeRag?e=yEzQjY

Stratford’s Masters’, Adaptive & Junior Squads Competing at High Level!

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The Junior and Masters squads of Stratford upon Avon Boat Club were in action again over the weekend on the hallowed waters of Henley-on-Thames.  As the trailer rolled into the historic town, the conditions could not have been better and gave no indication of what lay ahead.

Henley Town and Visitors Regatta provided high quality side by side racing over 800m on the Henley Royal Regatta course. Warm up complete, the Masters’ double scull of Henley Town and Visitors Regatta took to the water and made short work of their Guildford Rowing Cub competition in the first round. Steeling themselves for the final, the Hayton/Doherty combo turned swiftly and lined up against a quality crew from Poole & Warwick clubs. Sadly, victory was denied by a tight margin with the Poole/Warwick composite taking the win.

Then, it rained: with a biblical downpour in full effect the WJ18 quadruple scull of Jasmine Mountney, Isabelle Watts, Alice Baines and Mili Wilcock fully expected Noah and his Ark to be competing! Rowing up in the Senior Women’s event, the Stratford Boat Club athletes were drawn against what can only be described as a rowing super group consisting of Irish and Estonian national team members.

Unfazed, the J18 Stratford crew took their place on the start. The flag dropped and the girls went off well and held the Twickenham Rowing Club/ Thames Rowing Club/ Neptune Rowing Club composite to no more than half a length for the first half of the race. Experience won out in the end however and the composite took the win and went on to win the event overall. Commenting, Steve Wellstead, Junior Co-ordinator and J18 Performance Squad Coach commented, “That’s racing and indeed, the luck of the draw: onwards and upwards to Stourport Boat Club Regatta next Saturday!”

The Stratford Boat Club’s every increasing adaptive (disabled) squad competed at Maidenhead Rowing Club Regatta on Saturday. Xander Van Der Poll won his debut event in his single: in the final, he defeated a sculler from Northern Ireland by a considerable margin. Xander, a former King Edward The Sixth School pupil, is in the Great Britain Paralympic pathway system and hopes to represent Great Britain in the Paris Paralympics in 2024. He is one of two such athletes being developed by the Club’s adaptive section and can be seen on the Avon early most mornings training when not at Bristol University studying for his medical degree.

Gillian Middleton also made her first competitive appearance after only a few months rowing and an impressive one it was: she and her crewmate Joe Moore were only overhauled by a strong Marlow crew in the last few strokes of the final.

Paola and Ian Ward, in their final, were similarly overtaken close to the finish line by an all male Guildford crew. Dan Godefroy and Jake Blatcher were beaten by a technically excellent City of Oxford crew.

Said Mark Dewdney, Stratford Boat Club’s Head Adaptive Coach said, “Due to many last minute changes, some Stratford rowers were put in races against much faster opposition: on this occasion, this reduced our chances of multiple wins that we have had in most regattas in the last few years. Nonetheless, well done to all the rowers and helpers! We were very pleased with the general level of performance. Xander will face tougher opposition in the future so his training and steps along the GB Paralympic pathway will continue in earnest: Gillian’s performance was the star of the day! Stratford’s adaptive section is interested in everyone rowing as well as they can and we are happy as long as everyone rows well. The squad’s next outing is at Oxford on the 21st August in an event just for adaptive/disabled rowers.”

For media coverage see Stratford Herald online https://www.stratford-herald.com/sport/squads-show-they-can-compete-with-the-best-9211185 and page fifty.

For more great pictures of Henley Town & Visitors Regatta, see Kathy Baines’ selection at https://1drv.ms/f/s!AgY7EiDB2lCOhMdRfeSXA-kVvsp4wA