Tag Archives: Olympic course

Stratford’s Juniors Show Olympic Potential!

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Stratford upon Avon Boat Club junior crews were back competing on the water this week for the second of the pinnacle events of the head racing season, the Junior Sculling Head at Dorney Lake.

On the Olympic course at Dorney Lake, the J14, J15, J16 and J17 squads took on competition from around the UK to compete at this high profile event. The J17 squad fielded a women’s coxless quadruple scull to take on the top clubs and schools from around the country. The crew of Martha Cooke, Martha Baines, Millie Smith and Maeve Dunn put in a solid row over both 1800m legs to record fourteenth place.

The traditional junior sculling head saw a great performance by the WJ16 4x- comprising of Orla Linforth (S), Imogen de Pennington, Maria Ntoukaki and Erin Appleton (B). They came seventeenth out of fifty two crews rowing on the day, with their first 1800m completed in 6:59.9 and their second 1800m in 7:15.7, making a total time of 14:15.6. Stroking at twenty eight/thirty strokes per minute, the girls overtook a number of other crews, thereby earning another minute of catching their breath at the turnaround point.

Coaches Hugo Happel and Eric Appleton commented, ”The girls really focused on rating, sitting tall, energy management and avoiding rowing in and it paid off: a fantastic result against the best of the best crews in Britain. The girls should feel very proud: well done!”

The J14s enjoyed their first outing on the national stage and laid down assured performances that belied the many hours of training afloat lost recently to the River Avon in flood. First up were the WJ14 quad of Islay Milles, Eva Cruise, Amelia Cruickshank and Mary Heenan who, under the guidance of Archie Mansfield as cox, rowed a steady outward leg then turned on the afterburners to knock thirty seconds off their time on the return. Finishing ahead of several clubs who boast much larger squads and decidedly lighter boats was to their great credit.

The following division saw the J14 boys’ quad of Archie Eaton, Chris Durance, Arthur Burt and Eli Ford respond superbly to a masterful display of sports psychology from cox Ethan Siwakowski. Being urged to channel their inner champion and manifest a sense of victory clearly worked a treat, they finished in a commendable eleventh from fifty crews competing. Coach Jon Francis was delighted with their efforts and commented, “To come to the biggest rowing arena in the UK and perform with such composure really highlights the maturity and promise of this young squad!”

For media coverage, see Stratford Observer online https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-stratford-boat-clubs-young-scullers-show-olympic-potential-at-junior-sculling-head and back sports page https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/editions/view/?/Stratford/2026/04/03&pages=24: also see Stratford Herald online https://www.stratford-herald.com/sport/high-profile-test-for-stratford-boat-club-s-junior-crews-9460248 and page thirty nine. For more pictures of Scullery, see Stuart Baines’ great selection https://onedrive.live.com/?redeem=aHR0cHM6Ly8xZHJ2Lm1zL2YvYy8zZGQ4ZjZhNzBjMGNiNjI1L0lnRE1qUHoyN3BLYlRKQXp5ZDhMWVQtbUFZTDhnYl9sZ1ViSzJScW5tZ1FfSVBrP2U9TlNoRzB4&id=3DD8F6A70C0CB625%21sf6fc8ccc92ee4c9b9033c9df0b613fa6&cid=3DD8F6A70C0CB625

Stratford’s J16’s Excel on the Olympic Course

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Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s under 16 squad travelled to the Olympic Course at Eton Dorney last Bank Holiday Monday to take part in the “Scullery” Regatta. The event run over 2000m attracts the finest scullers from across the country and visitors from as far afield as South Africa and Ireland.

Stratford women’s coxless quadruple scull of Isla Dunn, Maeve Dunn, Tessa Parkin and Martha Cooke took the water first in the time trial with a solid thirteenth place ahead of the South African Rowing Schools Union and once again closing the gap to regional rivals Hereford Cathedral School.

Next up was the women’s double scull of Martha Baines and Sophie Franklin. The pair motored through the time trial stage in seventh place thus securing a place in the B Final.  Gusty conditions made the final quite an event with Sophie and Martha engaging in battle with Great Marlow School to finish third.

For media coverage, please see Stratford Herald online https://www.stratford-herald.com/sport/juniors-tackle-famous-olympic-course-9417134 and page forty seven and Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-stratford-boat-club-junior-scullers-excel-on-olympic-course

For great pictures of Scullery, see Stuart Baines’ selection https://onedrive.live.com/?redeem=aHR0cHM6Ly8xZHJ2Lm1zL2YvcyFBaVcyREF5bjl0ZzlrTGQwUDlhNGxTVHJfaUJHS2c%5FZT11eGJvR0o&id=3DD8F6A70C0CB625%21269300&cid=3DD8F6A70C0CB625

Stratford’s Juniors Show Promise at Junior Sculling Head

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Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s junior crews were back on the water this week following Schools’ Head for the second of the pinnacle events of the Head racing season – the Junior Sculling Head at Dorney Lake.

On the Olympic course at Dorney Lake the J14, J15 and J16 squads took on competition from around the UK to compete at this high profile event.  The J14 squad fielded a women’s coxless quadruple scull with Bryony Francis, Maeve Dunn, Becca Smith, Sophie Franklin and Martha Cooke (coxswain) representing Stratford Boat Club. The crew stormed up the course on the first 1800m leg and held their own in the 1800m second leg to finish eighth out of forty five crews entered. Commenting, Steve Wellstead, J14 Coach and Junior Co-ordinator said, “This places the WJ14 squad amongst the top crews in the country and makes for an exciting summer regatta season ahead!”

Representing the Junior 15’s girls were Alexandra Francis, Lily Warren, Sophie Evans, Poppy Baines, Meg Nuttall (cox) competing in the WJ15 coxed quad event. This is a popular event and this year was no different: a total of seventy two crews from the UK competed in difficult conditions. The Stratford girls were drawn in the outside lane racing into a crosswind of 23mph bearing the full brunt of the strong gusts and thus the first of the two runs challenged cox and crew. Despite a strong performance the girls finished twenty fifth. Said Colin Bell, J15 Coach, “On this occasion, the results did not reflect the effort!”

A field of fifty one crews took to the water in the WJ16 coxless quad event. Seeded sixteenth, the Stratford Boat Club crew of Ez Elfwood (stroke), ‘V’ Vondrak, Scarlett Richardson and Aimee Appleton (bow) settled into a strong and steady rhythm early on with Appleton dealing well with the cross winds to steer a straight line. Rowing through two other boats and with a faster second leg, the girls pulled up three places to finish thirteenth overall in a very competitive class.

For media coverage, see Stratford Herald page fifty three and Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-junior-scullers-show-promise-on-dorney-lake and back sports page https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/editions/view/?/Stratford/2023/03/31&pages=032

For more great pictures of the Junior Sculling Head, see Stuart Baines’ excellent selection https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AAgtRX2jqm73JFY&id=3DD8F6A70C0CB625%21250426&cid=3DD8F6A70C0CB625

Packed Schedule for Stratford’s Rowers!

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It has been a very busy week for Stratford upon Avon Boat Club Junior Squad with multiple away heads and trials. Firstly, Stratford’s J17/18 Performance Squad competed at The Scullery event on a very, very wet Wednesday. The Junior Sculling Head was held on the Olympic course at Dorney Lake

The day started early at the Lake for the J17/18 squad and the boys’ coxless quad of Will Beattie, Tomi Wilcock, Charles Happel and Toby Sartain were the first to boat. Despite discovering some steering problems off the start, they rowed a strong race to finish tenth in the Open J17 category, beating several competitive crews.

In the Women’s J18 event, Freya Watts, Ruby Howells, Amelie Sartain and Lucy Browne raced their coxless quad to finish a respectable thirty first with the majority of the crew racing up an age group.

Also at the Junior Sculling Head at Eton Dorney were Stratford’s WJ15 Squad: this great national event provided a great showcase for Stratford’s WJ15 quads. Stratford Boat Club takes this opportunity to thank the athletes’ schools for signing off on the permission to race during school time. Both WJ15 coxed quads did a tremendous job over the 2x 1.8km course. Sadly, Stratford did not win the event and they missed out on qualifying for Inter Regionals by 1.7seconds. Nevertheless, the WJ15 squad did the Club and their schools proud: sixty five crews raced in the event, with Stratford’s WJ15’s finishing in sixteenth and thirty ninth position, beating some big names such as Bedford Girls’ School, Wallingford, Sir William Borlase’s Grammar A, Thames Scullers A, Nottingham & Union, Godolphin & Latymer as well as both Kings School Worcester crews.

Hot on the heels of the WJ15’s was the Stratford’s WJ14’s boating in torrential rain. However, this did not deter the crew of Alexandra Francis, Poppy Baines, Sophie Evans, Alice Jones, coxed by Meg Nuttall. Commenting, Colin Bell, J14 Coach, said, “A very creditable eighth place out of thirty six crews amongst some of the high achieving clubs in the country is no mean feat!”

Taking to the water in the penultimate race of the day in low visibility were the OJ14 boys’ crew of Seth Vondrak, Xavier Sissins-Rofey, Theo Richter, Oliver Rowlands coxed by Lucy Yang. Achieving a position of eighteen out of forty three was commendable considering Sissins-Rofey, Richter and Yang are new to the sport having started sculling in October of last year.

The J16 squad also faced a hard competition at the weekend with two competitions. On Saturday, Amalia Richardson, Harriet Noyes, Grace Beason and Kate Richardson and cox Imogen Hill entered the WJ16 coxed four event at Kingston Head of the River Race over 5.2k of the fast flowing river Thames starting at Hampton Court Bridge. A strong headwind for much of the course created rough conditions testing the girls’ skill and the cox’s judgment in steering the fastest course. The Stratford crew showed great determination and stamina to beat their main competition Surbiton High School by fifty one seconds to score their third victory on the trot. Said Sam Hill, J16 Coach, “As a measure their achievement, it is worth noting that they also beat six university crews and Surbiton’s Championship women’s crew!”

Sunday brought another early start for the squad to race at the West Midlands selection event at Evesham which had been postponed from Stourport the previous weekend. Switching boats to a coxless quadruple scull, Amalia Richardson, Harriet Noyes, Maddie Hall and Kate Richardson beat Stourport by one minute and eight seconds. Charles Happel put in a brilliant performance in his single scull to beat King’s School Worcester by seven seconds to win a place alongside the girls’ quad in the squad to represent the West Midlands at the Junior Inter Regional Regatta in April.

On the upstream 1.4km Evesham course, from the ferry to the rowing club, two out three Stratford J15 crews qualified to represent the West Midlands t the Inter Regionals in April: Scarlett Richardson and Molly Vondrak in the WJ15 2x event, winning by forty two seconds against their nearest competition from Worcester Rowing Club as well as Will Dalrymple-Baker in the J15 1x event.

Musing on a very busy week for Stratford Boat Club, Paul Stanton, Stratford Boat Club President said, “What a credit the Junior Squad is to Stratford! Adding to the Juniors’ successes, the Club is also immensely proud of two recent Stratford Boat Club and King Edward The Sixth alumna – Katie Wellstead who was stroke in the Oxford University Women’s Light Weight crew on Sunday and Esme Booth who continued her winning streak, rowing in last weekend’s Women’s Eights Head of the River Race.” Rowing at number four in the winning Leander Club’s “A” boat, the crew completed the 4.25 mile course on the River Thames in nineteen minutes and fifteen seconds, thirty four seconds ahead of the second placed Oxford Brookes “A” boat! This follows on from Esme’s victories in the November GB Trials in Boston as part of a Leander Women’s pair (W2-) and in the Fours Head of the Tideway Race (Women’s Championship event) as part of the Leander Women’s Four (W4-). Esme returned to Caversham this week, training as a member of the GB Women’s Squad.

For media coverage, see Stratford Herald page fifty seven and Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-busy-week-for-stratford-upon-avon-boat-clubs-junior-squad