We were delighted to have a number of our senior rowers in action over the summer in various events including the Home International Rowing Regatta, the Coupe de la Jeunesse, and the U19 World Rowing Championships!
In total, 10 pupils have been called up with seven rowing for Great Britain, two for Wales, and one for England. This is a fantastic achievement and truly highlights the continued success of the Boat Club this year.
U19 World Rowing Championships
It was a double dosage of Gold medals for pupils Freddie Middleton and Jessica Weir as both took home 1st place finishes for Team GB at the U19 World Rowing Championships. It was a history-making event not just for Shiplake but also for Team GB. For the College, it was our first ever World Championship wins and, for Team GB, it was the first time that they had come top of the medal table at this event. And, in addition to the pupils rowing, we were delighted to see Director of Rowing Mr Currie and Assistant Director of Rowing Mr Safdari coaching two crews at the event.
In the U19 Women's Doubles final, just 0.25 seconds separated GB and Greece with 500m to go but Jess and her partner took gold with an amazing sprint finish. Mr Safdari was the GB U19 Women's Doubles coach.
In the U19 Men's Eight final, Freddie and the rest of his crew took an early lead, extending this further to a comfortable distance for much of the race, before holding off a sprint challenge from Germany. It was a dominant performance never leaving in doubt that they were the class crew in the event.
Coupe de la Jeunesse
It was a highly successful weekend of rowing for Team GB at the end of July which included six of our pupils taking part. The College was delighted to have Callan Wallis, Luke Byca, Ned Floyd, Fin Worthington, and Harrison Harper called up to the squad, with Emily Downing also going with the team as a 'spare' competitor.
The Coupe is an important step on the pathway to an international rowing career beyond the Under 19 level. It brings together 16 different European nations, with each boat class racing on the Saturday and Sunday. Points are awarded to crews for their final finishing position each day.
All of the College's pupils and their respective crews qualified for their A Finals on each day with Callan Wallis and Fin Worthington in the JM 4+ winning gold on the Saturday and Sunday finals. In the JM 4-, Ned Floyd won Gold in the Saturday final and Silver in the Sunday final while Harrison Harper, in the JM 2x, won Silver in both finals. In the JM 8+, Luke Byca, Fin Worthington, and Callan Wallis won Silver on the Saturday final, before going one step further on Sunday to take home the Gold medal. In the spares race, Emily Downing came 2nd in the JW 1x.
Home International Regatta
At the earlier Home International Regatta, which took place on Saturday 22 July at Lough Rinn, the England Rowing Team became the first nation to retain the Junior Women’s, Junior Men’s, Senior Women’s and Senior Men’s trophies. Shiplake's representation at the event came in the shape of Luke Byca who rowed for England, and Oliver Smee and Matthew Provoost who both rowed for Wales.
Luke raced in the JM8+ and the JM4+ where in the 2km races, came first with his crew on both occasions. It was the same outcome in the JM8+ 500m sprint with England taking the win. Oliver and Matthew were also in action in the JM8+ and JM4+ races with Wales coming 3rd place in both races. They then raced in the JM8+ and JM4x sprint events coming 3rd and 2nd respectively.
