Tag Archives: J15 Coach Hugo Happel

Stratford’s Juniors and Masters Score at Evesham and Dorney Lake

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Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s younger squads enjoyed their trip downstream to Evesham’s Sprint Regatta on Saturday and acquitted themselves admirably in the season’s first side-by-side racing. The J13 girls’ quad of Mary Heenan, Islay Milles, Isobel Jackson, Charlotte Franklin and Lilly Parsons (cox) overwhelmed their early opponents but narrowly missed out to the home side in the final. The J13s then displayed great character by racing the unfamiliar stretch of the Avon in small boats with all maximising their opportunity to explore almost every inch of the river and in one case, large parts of the riverbank too! The J13 boys’ quad of Archie Mansfield, Christopher Durance, Ethan Siwakowski, Arthur Burt and Archie Eaton (cox) rounded off the event in a hotly contested pursuit of the Evesham winners.

The J14s were in imperious form, sweeping aside their opponents in respective blue riband (coxed quads) events. Tristan Hammick, Nathan Lebordais, Connor Birrell, Reuben Stanford and Herbie Shickle (cox) eased to victory over successive Monmouth crews whilst the girls’ boat of Scarlet Wheeler, Lilly Parsons, Meredith Paul, Abi Dunn and Martina Bruce-Bonilla (cox) expertly managed their races to win them all by ‘just enough’ to nullify the boys’ bragging rights! Later small boat outings gave all athletes valuable experience and some points for development.

J13/14 coach Jon Francis commented, “I was delighted with the display from both squads and was particularly impressed with the calm demeanour of the J13s in their first ever regatta!

Stratford’s J15 squad started this season’s side by side racing at Evesham also on Saturday, over 1000m upstream course. In the morning Euan Richter and Will Shaw saw off their Cheltenham College Boat Club opposition in the OJ15 2x SF by five lengths and were successful too in the final against Worcester Royal Grammar, winning by one and a quarter lengths and claiming their navy blue pots. Also racing in the morning, Orla Linforth and Erin Appleton sculled in the WJ15 2x SF with really lovely technique but lost against the strong Evesham duo.

In the afternoon division, the OJ15 4x+ crew of Seb Happel, Euan Richter, Will Shaw, Ed Appleton and Rory Jones won their first race against Ross Rowing Club, won their semifinal against Magdalen College (easily) but lost in the final against Cheltenham College.

Also in division two, Rory Rowan sculled well in the OJ15 1x event but lost out to a stronger sculler from Worcester. In the WJ15 1x event, Naomi Sime showed lovely technique but lost to a powerful sculler from Ross Rowing Club and Maria Ntoukaki won her semifinal against a good sculler from Warwick Boat Club. In the final, Maria lost out to the Ross sculler by a small margin with both showing great sportsmanship after the staggered finish line.

Commenting, J15 coach Hugo Happel said, “The J15 squad again showed lovely technique, attitude and desire both on and off the water with some good learning to carry forward into the next regatta events. Well done to the athletes!”

Stratford’s Masters squad s had five crews racing at Evesham Regatta. The conditions were good and the racing started with the OpMI2x of Paul Collins and Mike Adkins. It was great to see this double competing again.

The OpC/D4+ also raced in the morning division in glorious sunshine. Victory can come in many forms: Jack Ingleby, Mark Kelly, David Vazquez and Phil Marshall came together as a crew for only the third time, using a borrowed bow loader boat, with a borrowed cox and a swap of crew position. They managed to row as a crew quite effectively along the 1,000 metre course. The foursome had some fun as well! Further outings are already planned, seating positions are selected and the future holds great hope!

The tail wind picked up over the course of the afternoon division, Stratford Women’s Masters DVIII crew had a handicapped race with the Evesham opposition being given a head start of eight seconds. Winning the semi-final against home crew of Evesham EVIII, saw Stratford rapidly closing on Evesham’s advantage of a head start. The crew held a strong rate of thirty strokes per minute over the one kilometre course until the final push and the crew were thrilled to take the win in a close finish.

After a quick turnaround, the final was a race between Stratford and the Ross DVIII who took the win for the day.

Crew Captain Katie Burman said, “I’m very proud of this terrific crew of tremendous ladies who have trained hard, showed great team spirit, resulting in a really strong performance!”

Commenting further, Amanda Bowden, Stratford’s Masters’ Vice Captain said, “Special thanks to Phil Marshall from Stratford Boat Club for his assistance with boat checks, to Evesham Rowing Club for the loan of a boat, to our very capable race cox Jess Salmon from Evesham Rowing Club and to all the Stratford supporters who came to cheer us on!”

The other Masters’ crews had mixed results: the senior men’s 4x faced tough opposition from a performance Evesham crew. The WE4x had a straight final, racing hard they just missed out on a win.

Meanwhile on Sunday, the J18 girls of Alexandra Francis, Scarlett Richardson, V Vondrak and Lucy Sartain took on Wallingford Regatta held at Dorney Lake’s two kilometres Olympic course in the WJ18 coxless quads category. They put out a strong performance executing their race plan perfectly with a time of 7:13 minutes in the heats gaining them second place and therefore a place in the final. In the final, the wind picked up making conditions more challenging but the girls still pushed on finishing strong in sixth position against Tideway Scullers, Marlow, Shrewsbury and more competitive schools and clubs.

For media coverage see Stratford Herald page thirty six and Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-success-for-stratford-boat-clubs-scullers-at-evesham-sprint-regattam and back sports page https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/editions/view/?/Stratford/2025/05/09&pages=24

Stratford’s Juniors and Masters Score at Nottingham and Birmingham

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Following the recent West Midlands trials, Stratford upon Avon Boat Club juniors headed to Nottingham’s National Water Sports Centre to represent the region at the Junior Inter Regional Regatta.  A national level event, the athletes competed against regional crews from Scotland to Wessex and everywhere between. Stratford’s J14 boys were representing the West Midlands in the quad and approached the time trial with a now familiar enthusiasm. Just seconds separated the nine fastest boats and the crew of Reuben Stanford, Connor Birrell, Nathan Lebordais, Herbie Shickle and Tristan Hammick (cox) missed a slot in the A final by just a fraction of a second. They embraced the challenge of side-by-side racing on the big stage in a thrilling show-down across the full 1.5km, with the lead swapping between them and Thames London throughout. With fearsome encouragement from their cox, Stratford timed their final surge to perfection for a deserved B final victory.

Stratford’s J15 squad had two crews taking part in the inter regionals regatta. First up in the 1000m time trials, the composite WJ15 4+ of Orla Linforth, Maria Ntoukaki, Erin Appleton and Daisy Wilkes (Evesham Rowing Club sculler), coxed by Ed Appleton, rowed well and qualified for the B final with the crew bemoaning their stroke rate and their catches. Next up in the OJ15 2x event, Seb Happel and Will Shaw had a good row and qualified for the C final. In the afternoon, the WJ15 4+ came fourth in their 1500m stake boat start final, finishing ahead of WAGS/Wales and Wessex. The OJ15 2x won their final, beating WAGS/Wales. J15 Coach Hugo Happel said, “The J15’s showed good technique on the water, gave 100%, took the learning from the Time Trials into the Finals and showed superb team spirit and collective off the water. Brilliant work and attitude: they should be very proud!”

The women’s J16 coxless four crew of Martha Cooke, Becca Smith, Martha Baines and Millie Smith delivered a solid row in the time trial to secure a place in the B Final. Lining up against sweep rowing powerhouses such as Aberdeen Schools, the girls exploded from the start and took an early lead by clear water. The race remained a close run event with Stratford battling to hold a lead over the fast charging opposition eventually losing ground in the closing stages to cross the line in fourth place.

Meanwhile closer to home, the newly formed masters 2x crew of Rebecca England (stroke) and Lucy Scarlett (bow) travelled to Edgbaston Reservoir on Saturday to compete at Birmingham Regatta over the 700m laned course. Having been promoted out of the lower category due to a lack of opposition, the Stratford double faced a tough race against home favourites, Birmingham. Fortunately, weather conditions were favourable with flat water and little breeze. While being held on the staked start for a previous incident to be cleared, anticipation and nerves grew. However, the Stratford duo started smoothly and powerfully, edging ahead of their opposition early on. When lengthening into their race pace, they were able to maintain an efficient rate of thirty three strokes per minute which enabled them to pull further away from the Birmingham crew. Lucy, at bow, steered an excellent line which saw the Stratford double cross the finish two lengths ahead, taking the win. Rebecca and Lucy would like to extend a special thanks to Thomas Doherty for transporting the boat and enabling them to race. They now hope to build on this success, developing their training to become a more established crew throughout the summer.

For media coverage, see Stratford Herald page forty five and Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-stratford-boat-club-masters-pair-win-gold-at-birmingham-regatta and back sports page https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/editions/view/?/Stratford/2025/05/02&pages=24

For pictures of JIRR, see Stuart Baines’ great selection https://onedrive.live.com/?redeem=aHR0cHM6Ly8xZHJ2Lm1zL2YvYy8zZGQ4ZjZhNzBjMGNiNjI1L0V0RUJkazdaeXVaSHJnbVR2X3BoeENRQjVZWEZBWlVYYkJEbEVXcG1sUWRHOEE%5FZT1JRUdxbE8&id=3DD8F6A70C0CB625%21s4e7601d1cad947e6ae0993bffa61c424&cid=3DD8F6A70C0CB625

Stratford out in force at Stourport!

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Stratford upon Avon Boat Club went in force to Stourport Boat Club’s Small Boats Winter Head on Sunday. The J18 Club squad was racing in the afternoon, with Martha Usselmann, Isabella Sandland, Hannah Broome, and Elisabeth Edwards competing in the WJ18 coxless quads. This was the first race for half of the crew and it started off well with Stratford putting a good distance between them and the next crew. Passing the Stourport clubhouse, Stratford overtook an eight and in the last few metres of the race were overtaken by another quad in a dramatic race to the finish. Although finishing fourth, the girls greatly enjoyed the race and hope to be back again soon at the same venue.

For the J16 squad, it was the first event of 2022 which saw a very bright and sunny mid winter’s day for the J16 girls’ crew of Amalia Richardson, Maddie Hall, Harriet Noyes, Kate Richardson and coxed by Imogen Hill. Competing for the first time in a coxed sweep boat, they literally swept away their completion from Trentham Boat Club, winning their event by fifty nine seconds in a fantastic time of 14:08 minutes. Commenting, Steve Marsden, J16 Coach, said, “The girls provided a great demonstration of sweep rowing at pace, guided expertly by the cox to accelerate across the finish line in front of a large group of spectators. Unfortunately, the girls’ coxless quad were unable to compete and this slightly dampened the day.”

Both Stratford Boat Club WJ15 4x+ crews performed extremely well on the 3.8km Stourport course downstream, narrowly missing out on Gold against Trentham Boat Club, who finished in a winning time of 14.07. The WJ15x+ squad did beat crews from Evesham, AB Severn and Stourport. After a long wait in the marshaling area, they sustained their technique for the complete distance, rating at up to 35spm. The girls were very pleased with their performance, surprised not to have won, but that is the nature of the great sport of rowing: sometimes an unexpected entrant comes along and takes the spoils! J15 Coach Hugo Happel said, “The girls did Stratford proud with some very fine technique sustained over 3.8km: they should reflect on their achievement and celebrate until Tuesday at least, when some more character-building land training awaits once more!”

For some of Stratford’s J14 athletes, this was their first ever head race, and at a lengthy 3.8km, it was a baptism of fire! Due to logistical challenges, the J14’s had one crew race up an age category in Open J15 coxed quad facing challenging competition. Despite this, the crew of James Albrighton (cox), Alexandra Francis, Seth Vondrak, Xavier Sissins and Poppy Baines got off to a flying start, holding their own against the older boys’ crews the whole way down the course, not making it easy for their competition right the way to the final stroke. They were shortly followed by the WJ14 coxed quad of Sophie Evans (cox), Alice Jones, Meg Nuttall, Lily Warren and Lucy Yang for which it was their first outing in the combination. It was a gutsy row, going hard off the start and showing off their technical skill even at the tail end of the course when their competition were faltering. In the second division with the cold creeping in, the open J14 coxed quad of Alexandra Francis (cox), James Albrighton, Ollie Rowlands, Theo Richter and Sophie Evans proved they were made of tough stuff, holding off a strong crew for over half the course and powering through to the finish with their heads held high.

Stourport Winter Head marked the first race also for King Edward The Sixth School Boat Club for twenty three months. Not only this but the crew were now with an entirely new squad and it was the first race for the boys in the coxed four (J. Mitchell, T. Wheeler, E. Craig, R. Macdonald, E. Rose), three of whom only started learning to row last September. With some excitement and a bit of nerves, the crew took everything in their stride: they were the third crew off in their category so had two targets ahead of them. Half way down the course, they successfully picked off the first of their opposition putting in a push to power past the crew from Hereford which left them with our friends from Stratford Boat Club to chase down! They didn’t have enough water to catch Stratford but the squad finished in an impressive time winning their category by just over one minute.

Not to be outdone, Stratford’s Masters were also at Stourport competing in a coxed four. Commenting, Dave Edwards, Masters’ Vice Captain said. “In fairness, we beat the other masters in that group by over a minute, so not too bad a row even though we were beaten by a very much younger crew!”

For media coverage, please see Stratford Herald page sixty one and also Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-stratford-upon-avon-boat-club-impress-at-stourport-boat-clubs-small-boats-winter-head.

For more great pictures of Stourport Head, see Kathy Baines’ selection https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgY7EiDB2lCOhPwCJoS_zRzcEKRK3g?e=6t7Ryt