The Shiplake rowers have had a busy two weeks recently. As regatta season gets underway, the crews have been travelling to local schools in order to participate in races. On Saturday 25 February the J14 crew headed to Reading Blue Coat to race in their first ever competitive fixture. On Saturday 4 March crews headed to the Reading University Head and Hammersmith Head in order to compete, whilst the J14 crews raced against Radley and Abingdon in a private fixture. Thank you to Director of Rowing Mr David Currie and Mr Tom Crisford for the following report on the racing:
‘A landmark day was achieved for the J14 rowing squad on Saturday with their first competitive fixture against another school. Not only did this event provide the boys with an opportunity to race but equally as important was the rowing that was required to just get to the start line. The two octuples rowed from Shiplake to the Reading Blue Coat Boathouse and they acquitted themselves excellently, especially when going through Shiplake Lock. The racing proved an excellent challenge for both boats and although - as you would except for their first race - there was quite a lot of confusion the boys performed very well. With four Octo’s racing the Shiplake boats finished first and third, representing a great first outing for the crews.
The Boat Club then had a busy weekend of racing at Reading University Head, Hammersmith Head and the 14’s racing against Radley and Abingdon in a private fixture on Saturday 4 March. This is the first time this season crews have raced in selected boats, in preparation for the Schools Head. All Shiplake crews looked well drilled and put in good performances. The 1st VIII showed they have some good speed at Reading University Head, finishing seventh overall and being the first school home, being beaten only by six Senior men’s crews from prestigious rowing clubs Oxford Brookes, Thames Rowing Club and Leander Club. The 2nd and 3rd VIII also raced well, finishing sixth and eleventh respectively. This was particularly impressive considering that it was mostly 1st and 2nd VIIIs racing from other schools. The 16A and B VIII finished sixth and 13th in senior intermediate 3 VIIIs. The 15A boat finished fourth out of 19, which is a fantastic result for them in their first ever head race event! The senior girls finished third out of 6 crews, just behind Latymer Upper School and Sir William Borlase’s School.
A huge thank you must go to Radley for inviting our J14’s to take part in a fixture against them and Abingdon School. After last week’s success at the Reading Blue Coat’s fixture, the crews were excited to see what they could do against Radley and Abingdon as they get ready to race at the National Schools Sculling Head in a few weeks’ time. The A Crew was unfortunately only able to complete one of the two runs that had been organised due to an equipment failure but they will be pleased with their efforts. Within only 15 seconds separating all three of the A crews it suggests that with some extra training they will be competitive with the other top rowing schools. The B Crew also had a good afternoon and, although finishing behind the Radley and Abingdon crews, there is again much to suggest that this gap can be caught and I look forward to seeing them develop in the coming months. The crew of the day for Shiplake was undoubtedly the Quad, who had a fantastic race - particularly in the first run in which they beat their Radley rivals by 15 seconds unfortunately in the second run Radley beat them. All the crews learnt a lot from the event in challenging conditions with strong winds and torrential rain; we are very grateful to Radley for organising such a great event.
On Sunday 5 March the 1st, 2nd, J16A and J15A boat went to London to race in the Hammersmith Head. This race is held on the Schools Head course so is used as a good practice race for many crews, allowing coxes some vital experience of steering down the tricky course. Although the river is very wide there is a best line to take which puts the crew in the fastest water, this can add a huge time advantage to the crew if it is taken correctly. Although the weather was wet this did not dampen the spirit of all our crew racing when they took to the water. The 1st VIII beat every school and won IM1 VIIIs event. The 2nd VIII finished fifth in IM3 VIIIs, out of 21 crews racing. The J16 VIII finished second, only 1.2 seconds behind Westminster School. The J15 VIII finished fourth out of 19 other school J15 VIIIs.
After some encouraging results we now look forward to our big National event in two weeks’ time.’
