Tag Archives: Vesta International Masters’ Head of the River Race

Stratford Celebrates International Women’s Day on the Tideway!

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On Saturday 8th March, International Women’s Day, Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s masters’ women joined two and a half thousand women racing in the Women’s Eights Head of the River Race in London, for the first time.

They enjoyed a beautiful sunny day on the Thames with fantastically flat water. Starting at the back of the first division, the Stratford Women’s Masters’ D crew, coxed by Jennifer Cary, was comprised of Rebecca England at stroke, followed by Heather Hayton, Ellie Davis, Lin Hanson, Caroline Collins, Corinna Burger, Debbie Thompson and Gina Fusco.

The Stratford crew started well with powerful, efficient strokes and quickly moved up on and overtook their first opposition from Kingston Rowing Club. Settling into a rhythmic thirty one strokes per minute, they then proceeded slowly to make headway on the boat ahead. The seven kilometre race was a battle to gain on the crew ahead and hold off a fast Broxbourne Rowing Club VIII behind.

As the Putney finish approached, Stratford’s cox was put to the test, steering expertly to hold the fastest stream while being sandwiched by boats on either side. The fast Broxbourne crew pushing past on one side, as Stratford, in turn, fought to go past Marlow Rowing Club. Stratford took the rate up to complete their overtake just before the finish line. Completing the course in a time of twenty three minutes and sixteen seconds, placed seventh out of thirteen crews in their division beating several clubs such as Marlow, Kingston, Bewdley, Thames Tradesmen and overseas crews.

Gina Fusco, bow, summed up her race, “It was a truly amazing experience: thank you to everybody for the support on and off the water in making this happen today. It was simply brilliant!”

Masters’ Vice Captain, Amanda Bowden added, “I am delighted to see the women’s development and training programme over the last three years has led to such a competitive performance today on the Tideway. This is the largest women’s rowing race in the world and the crew performed brilliantly! To be placed midway through the Masters D category is amazing! Thank you to our coach, Sam Hill who has been instrumental in preparing the women’s squad for their races this season. The crew had a fantastic day, gaining valuable experience and now look forward to rowing the same Championship course in two weeks’ time in the Vesta International Masters Head of the River Race”

For media coverage, see Stratford Herald page forty two and Stratford Observer online https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-stratford-boat-clubs-masters-crew-compete-in-prestigious-womens-eights-head-of-the-river-race and also back sports page https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/editions/view/?/Stratford/2025/03/14&pages=24

Stratford Conquer The Tideway!

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Congratulations to Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s Masters Women, Suzie Radley and Amanda Bowden who raced at the Women’s Eights Head of the River Race (WEHORR) and won the Masters Pennant!

WEHORR is rowed over 6.8km on the Tideway in London from Chiswick Bridge to Putney on the ebb tide, the same course that the University Boat Race will row over at the end of March but in the other direction.

The Stratford’s Masters women were invited to row in a composite crew with other clubs and it was a great privilege to be able to race in the boat that was used by the US Women’s winning eight in the 2016 Olympics.

The masters crew set up with a strong rhythm and maintained that for the duration of the course at 31 strokes per minute, overtaking two crews and gaining on a third. It was a solid row in tough conditions as the head wind pushed against the tide producing very choppy water. The adjusted time for masters was 20:06 minutes which would place the crew 26 out of 158, up amongst some of the university A times.

The crew enjoyed the Victory Celebration presentation in the evening, with the medals being presented by Annamarie Phelps CBE, Olympic Rower and previous Vice Chair of the Olympic Association, and hosted by Stratford’s Honorary Life Member Camilla Hadland-Horrocks, rowing commentator for Olympic and Paralympic Games. Another successful Stratford rower, Katie Wellstead was also spotted at the event, rowing for OUBC.

This year the event had been expecting to host many more crews, but sadly due to the high water levels and in the interest of safety, about 50% of the less experienced crews were withdrawn, including Stratford’s own junior 18 girls boat. We hope that the Stratford J18 crew will get to enjoy the long Tideway Course next year or with future university crews. For now, they should take some comfort, the conditions were horrible!

Commenting, Amanda Bowden, Stratford’s Women Masters Vice Captain said, “We would like to thank the masters women for all their encouragement and support. Messages before, during and after the event have ensured that the masters women are well supported.

There is more masters women Tideway action to come as the Masters E Crew of Jane Cryer, Ruth Poulton, Katie Burman, Lin Hansen, Caroline Collins, Victoria Noyes, Clare Booth and Rona Fitzpatrick and cox Jen Carey will be racing at Vesta International Masters Head of the River Race on Sunday 24th March. They have been training hard and we all wish them good luck!”

For media coverage, please see Stratford Herald page forty six and online https://www.stratford-herald.com/sport/stratford-rowers-compete-in-usa-olympics-boat-9357098 and Stratford Observer online https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-stratford-boat-club-womens-masters-pair-triumph-on-the-tideway and back sports page https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/editions/view/?/Stratford/2024/03/15&pages=24

Stratford’s Juniors & K.E.S. Excel at Schools’ Head of the River and Masters’ at Vesta International Masters Head of the River Race

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On Friday, Stratford upon Avon Boat Club’s J17/18 squad travelled to London and the Schools’ Head of the River to take on the revered Thames Tideway, the venue for the Oxford/Cambridge boat race.

The squad competed in the highly competitive Championship quads event which hosted fifty one of the country’s best junior boys’ boats. On the unfamiliar and challenging course that stretches for nearly 7km through West London, the crew of Will Beattie, Tomi Wilcock, Charles Happel, and Toby Sartain sculled with confidence and came home in a strong thirty nineth place ahead of eleven high level crews.

Also at the Schools’ Head was King Edward VI School Boat Club with their unmatched string of victories including their recent success at the West Midlands Championship and now they pulled off another decisive win on the Thames.

The Mixed Eight of Amalia Richardson, Maddie Hall, Tom Wheeler, Rafa Macdonald, Tom Beard, Ed Rose, Harriet Noyes, Kate Richardson and Imogen Hill set an impressive new course record of 19:30 minutes over the 6.8 kilometer Thames Championship Course. Setting off with a strong pace though Chiswick Bridge at a rate of 32 strokes per minute and maintaining this all the way to Barnes Bridge, on the straight to Chiswick Eyot coxswain Imogen Hill took the perfect racing line as the K.E.S. crew picked up the pace. Hot on the heels of Westminster School and overtaking the hosts of the event passing under Hammersmith Bridge, K.E.S. continued to extend their lead past Fulham Football ground to the finish at Putney Bridge.

K.E.S. Captain of Boats, Ed Rose said, “We had it under control for the entire race and I have to agree with the commentator who broadcast – “It looks like good fun”! It feels great to have won this national event giving K.E.S grounds for optimism for the upcoming summer season. Our thanks go to Stratford upon Avon Boat Club for their support in getting us to this event!”

Also at the weekend, Stratford upon Avon Boat Club secured an impressive victory at the Vesta International Masters’ Head of the River Race on Sunday in the Women’s D eights category. The brand-new composite crew, which included members from seven European clubs, completed the Championship course in an impressive 20:02 minutes, and finished as the fourth fastest women’s crew overall.

After the race, Suzie Radley, who represented Stratford, remarked that it was an honour to compete on this historic stretch of the Thames and to witness so many masters crews putting in their best effort. She also expressed her delight at her team’s triumph, stating, “We were thrilled with our win.”

For media coverage, see Stratford Herald page fifty two and Stratford Observer on line https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/sport/rowing-stratford-juniors-and-kes-excel-at-schools-head-of-the-river-in-london and back sports page https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/editions/view/?/Stratford/2023/03/24&pages=032