Vikings Roar to National Victory

Shiplake Vikings Rowing Club enjoyed their first success at national level last weekend when Seb Newman and Henry Blois-Brooke won the J15 double scull event at the British Championships in Nottingham.

The Vikings junior club was started two years ago by the Headmaster and Shiplake parent Richard Berkley and a bronze medal won last year in the J14 coxed quads showed that the club were becoming a force to be reckoned with. This year, coach Paul Rushent accompanied another coxed four and a double at J15 level to compete in the National Championships, and the fledgling club produced magnificent results.

The coxed quad of Ollie Potter, Christian Hjortland-Marks, Hugo Oglina, Cosmo Hearnden with cox Belle Narracott won through to the B Final where they finished fourth. Meanwhile, Seb and Henry were the fastest qualifiers in the time trial, with an impressive time of 5 minutes and 11 seconds.

This ensured qualification for the semi-finals, which the Shiplake boys won by a mammoth 15 seconds. Despite their growing momentum, they did not relax in the final and stormed to another huge victory. This time the margin was 9 seconds, crossing the line on the 1500m in front of Oxford City and Wallingford RC.