During the half term holiday, senior rowers were accompanied by Mr Currie and Mr Mackworth-Praed for the 2014 USA Rowing Tour. Highlights included racing the largest regatta in the world (The Head of the Charles, held in Boston), travelling to Philadelphia for the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta and a memorable visit to New York City. The 10 day tour was blessed with fantastic weather and for many of the boys it was an experience of a lifetime that they got to share with their closest friends, strengthening the bond that has been created through sport.
The Head of the Charles sees athletes from all over the world flock to the Charles river in Boston to compete over the 3 mile course full of beds and bridges. Shiplake entered the Youth Eights event with a crew made up of Ollie Gerrard, Matt Godwin, Tom Emerson, Charles Galligan, Henry Cawthorne, Philip Green, Will Carey and Tim Waller, being coxed by Dom Marsh.
The boys competed against 84 other junior eights, but were unfortunate to get a start number of 78 meaning they started at the back of the division and had a lot of traffic to contend with. However, Dom Marsh steered a stellar course making the best of the situation. The crew had a solid race coming home in a respectable 32nd place.
Harry and Tom Berkley raced in the Youth Double Sculls event along with the double of Vincent Thomann and James Love. Both doubles had a creditable row with the Berkley's finishing in 8th and Thomann, Love in 13th out of 42 crews. Leading by example, Mr Mackworth-Praed raced in the ‘over 40's’ single event coming in 3rd place out of 37.
Moving on from Boston, the tour party headed down to New York City for an action packed day of sightseeing. The day started with a walk around the city and Central Park taking in the famous sights and monuments. The boys’ excitement was building as they walked through Times Square on route to Madison Square Garden to watch the New York Knicks basketball team against the Milwaukee Bucks. It was here the boys decided that, in line with the American culture, the Shiplake College Boat Club should in fact be called the Shiplake Bees! The next day started with a run across Brooklyn Bridge then on to take in Ground Zero which proved to have a profound effect on the boys. A trip up the Rockafella Center to take in the views of the city ended the stay in New York as the party boarded the train to move on to their last stop, Philadelphia.
In Philadelphia, the tour party was hosted by Malvern Prep School. The boys were all accommodated by Malvern families where they enjoyed outstanding hospitality and experienced life in an American family. On the first day in Philadelphia the group headed to Princeton University for a tour of the campus. The University allowed the boys to take out two of their boats and enjoy a training session on their world renowned rowing course. It is on this course that the USA National Team base themselves so the boys were very lucky to get this opportunity.
The focus then turned to the last race of the tour, the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, which proved to be a fitting end to an outstanding trip. The head race is set on the scenic Schuylkill river, raced over 2.5 miles of still water. First up was Mr Mackworth-Praed once again in his single scull winning the veterans event ahead of 19 other scullers. Next came the High School Quad Scull of Gerrard, Galligan, Emerson and Waller producing a fantastic race coming in second and picking up a silver medal from 21 crews. Lastly the High School Varsity Eight of Green, Godwin, Thomann, Love, Cawthorne, Carey, T Berkley, H Berkley and Marsh finished an impressive 7th out of 49 crews, ahead of British competition from St Edwards, St Pauls and Abingdon schools.
The achievements and experiences gained on this tour will stay with the boys forever, with many rowers listing the USA tour as their best memory of Shiplake life. It is a phenomenal opportunity which is repeated every 2 years for senior members of the Boat Club.
Shiplake College Boat Club would like to thank Green Lake Rowing Club, Malvern Prep School, the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University for their help in making the tour so successful.
Mr David Currie
Director of Rowing
*The trip was so enjoyable that the group took over 800 photos! To view them all, please visit our media page
