On Monday 12 March, Shiplake's Championship 1st Eight rowing squad finished 2nd of 356 crews at this years’ Schools Head of the River.
From the college, 61 pupils traveled to London to participate in the highly anticipated Schools Head of the River. Shiplake took 1st place at last year’s prestigious race, and consequently started in 1st place at this years’ time-trial event. As many as 356 crews and 2,000 school pupils from across the country took part. This year, Shiplake’s championship 1st VIII finished in 2nd place overall, beating 354 other crews including Eton College, Abingdon School and Radley College. This means that Shiplake will start in 2nd place at next year’s Schools Head. St Paul's School, who started in 3rd position, won by 20 seconds.
Other results from Shiplake College included 3rd place for the Championship Junior 16’s eights, 3rd place for the Championship Junior 15 VIII and the Girls Championship fours took 6th place.
Director of Rowing Dave Currie has said: ‘The 1st VIII’s result was nothing short of remarkable; they proved that great spirit and team work outweighed their power deficit to their opposition. The results lower down the club were also fantastic and show that we have some strength coming through over the next few years.’
On Monday, the 1st VIII raced in the Schools Head of the River, which is the last and biggest head race of the season. We had a good paddle on the course in the morning before the race which left us all excited and anxious to get going. We went off first as the first VIII won last year so we had the advantage of nice water the whole way down the course and being able to see the other crews. After a fast start we got into a good rhythm which we managed to hold until we crossed the line. When we finished we knew we had put together a race we could be proud of and we eagerly awaited the results. We soon heard that we had come second and were all very excited as we knew we had put together a good race. Overall it was an enjoyable day and a good result which gives us something to push off from for the rest of the season as we enter the regatta season and can start to enjoy side by side racing in the build up to National Schools and Henley Regatta.
Report provided by Fred Peck, 1st VIII, Captain of Boats
From the point of arrival at Quintin rowing club, spirits were high. We had all had a good three days of rest in preparation for the race. We got off the bus and immediately the crew worked together to rig the boat quickly and efficiently to give us time to get on the water for a quick half an hour warm up session. At this point it was raining pretty heavily, but we knew that we had to get on the water, no matter the conditions in order to get used the conditions on the tideway. We then went back in, in order to warm up and take on liquids and food. Around an hour later we were back on the water and waiting at the start above Chiswick Bridge. Everyone was hyped up as we were told by the marshals to turn around and build up our speed for the start. As we crossed the start line, we built a strong burst of speed, which we managed to maintain up until around Chiswick Eyot when the crew was really starting to feel the burning pain in our legs. At this point the speed started to drop and this meant that the balance went due to a lapse in technique. At this point we had a bit of problem when Matvey got the line slightly wrong round the corner and we hit a buoy, but after the shock we quickly got back in control of the rate. After about 5 minutes of decreased speed and past the Hammersmith Bridge, the 1st VIII gave the whole crew a huge drive of motivation and inspiration to speed. After this, we put on a turn of speed that we couldn’t believe we had in us. In the last 20 strokes we put all the power that we had left in the tanks on the line in order to finish strong. Special recognition for Matvey, James and Timmy for keeping the boat motivated throughout the race. Even though we finished last in our category, it was a strong performance from a crew that had never rowed the full course of the SHORR.
Report provided by Jack Nienow, 3rd VIII
The gruelling 7km course down the tideway was made a lot shorter and easier by the amazing support we got from all the boys VIII strung out across the course as they headed home. With only 1 out of the 4 in the crew to have ever rowed the famously difficult course, the encouragement was worth a large amount of seconds off our time. This helped us to achieve a respectable 6th out of 22.
Report provided by Molly Sharman, Girls VIII
On Monday 12th March, the 2nd VIII competed at the National Schools Head of the River race. After a good week of training, spirits were high as we traveled up to Quintin Boat club. Once there, we rigged up the boat and went out for a short paddle. The conditions were better than expected with only the rain to contend with, so the crew was ready to compete.
After a few hours of preparing ourselves mentally for the race, we started our warm-up and got into race kit. Marshaling over to our starting position, the boys were feeling confident, with a strong tailwind and fast current it was sure to be a fast days racing. When we were called to spin, the adrenaline was pumping and the team was fired up for the race.
We came out from Chiswick Bridge at a good pace, firing on all cylinders before stepping up our rhythm. Seeing the Shiplake flag hanging from Barnes Bridge gave the crew a fresh burst of energy that carried us on in the race. Coming up to Hammersmith the crew was starting to feel the strain of the past 12 minutes, but the cheers of the Shiplake crowd pushed us on as we stepped up for the last 6 minutes. Holding our hands in the fire, as Mr Currie would say, we pushed through to the finish.
As a crew, we were pleased with our 6th place finish and are looking forward to using this as a platform to push off as we enter the regatta season. We would like to thank Mr Currie for coaching the squad, as we look forward to the rest of the season.
Report provided by Josh O’Hare, 2nd VIII
The J16 VIII felt confident going into this race after a weekend of very productive training. The crew was made up of Rory Abery, Seb Hjortland Marks, Josh Wombwell, Marcus Coulter, Matthew Waller, Ben Brockway, Rhys Ash, Sydney Burnand and Freddie Fricker (cox). The race went well, and we stuck to our rhythm, with the help of some great Shiplake Support at Hammersmith Bridge we pushed on to the finish of the longest race many of us had done. The time looked good but was topped by St Pauls and Westminster, the result of 3rd looks good for the crew moving into the summer racing season where we look to make up the seconds lost on Westminster and St Pauls.
Report provided by Rhys Ash, Junior 16s VIII