Shiplake College entered six crews to this year’s Henley Royal Regatta and made history by having five crews – 35 pupils – qualify to take part, which is the most from one school in the Regatta’s 183 year history.
The boys’ eight and the girls’ quad had pre-qualified for the Princess Elizabeth and Diamond Jubilee Challenge cups but the other crews all took part in the HRR qualifying races on the Friday before the regatta began.
Director of Rowing, David Currie, says “It was extraordinary to qualify 35 students to represent Shiplake College and Henley Royal Regatta. It is the pinnacle of our regatta season and to have five crews involved in racing makes me very proud. It is a testament to the strength of our programme and the coaches hard work and dedication to all of our rowers.”
Temple Challenge Cup (Boys’ Eights)
Only 7 crews from 50 would qualify for the Temple Challenge Cup, open to universities, colleges and schools. Shiplake’s Temple B Eight, of Henry Brough, Oliver Smee, Tom Lebeau, Gus Elliott, Oli Joiner (cox), Sylvan Verzone, Matthew Provoost, Ben Brooks and Ed Houghton, was effectively the Shiplake’s boys’ fourth boat so the pressure was off them and they enjoyed the experience of racing the regatta course but didn’t progress to HRR itself.
Shiplake’s Temple A Eight, of Nick Summerfield, Tom Madden, Rocco Pritchard, Luke Byca, Charlie Keena (cox), Ned Floyd, Tom Houghton, Toby Rackett and Felix Arkle, did exceptionally well to be in the top 7 fastest crews, beating many university first eights and other schools second eights.
Racing on the Tuesday, Day 1, of the newly-formed six day regatta, the Temple A boat’s first race was against the University of California Irvine, USA. The commentators remarked that ‘Shiplake is one of the best school second eights in the country’, noting that they had won the Schools’ Head Second Eights and got silver in the Nat Schools Second Eights category. They said it is ‘a huge achievement for a school boy second eight crew to be up here racing in the Temple against student men. The problem is they are contending with the age, size and experience of the American crew who have pretty much had an undefeated season in their own right.’ Shiplake crew raced well, losing by 2½ lengths.
Fawley Challenge Cup (Boys’ Quad)
The Fawley Challenge Cup isn’t normally a Henley Royal Regatta category that Shiplake enters and the last time Shiplake rowed in this event was in 2007. With only three crews from 40 entrants able to qualify it was a big ask for Shiplake to get through, but Ed Humphris, Fin Worthington, Harrison Harper and Leo Creighton gave coach Mr Keith Settle a fantastic leaving present by qualifying. Their Day 1 race was against pre-qualified crew Sir William Borlase and whilst Shiplake went out strongly, Borlase edged away and continued to extend their lead as they went down the course, finishing ahead by 4½ lengths.
Prince Philip Challenge Trophy (Girls’ Eight)
New to the HRR event list last year, as a part of the expansion to six days of racing, this junior event had 13 pre-qualified crews with space for only 3 further crews to qualify from 14. It was therefore even more impressive for the Shiplake girls’ eight, who had been competing in smaller boats for the majority of the regatta season, to make Shiplake history and qualify as the first girls’ eight to race at Henley Regatta. Megan Hadfield, Hannah Boddy, Gesa Hallmann, Georgia Catlin, Monty Walker (cox), Casey Green, Maya Jackson, Phoebe Young and Ellie Webb had their Round 1 race early on the Wednesday against Hinksey Sculling School from Oxford, losing by 3¼ lengths.
Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup (Boys’ Eight)
Based on their performance during the regatta season the boys’ first eight were pre-qualified for this event and were also marked as one of the eight ‘selected’ crews which means they are placed in specific spots in the draw before the remaining crews are drawn. Their first race was against Bedford School and Ed Tayler, Dillan Hillier, Jake Birch, Freddie Middleton, Wallace Fisher (cox), Ed Dallas, Fred Fox, Seric Critchley and Matthew Johnston had a “commanding start” to be leading by a length within the first 30 seconds of the race. The boys relaxed after that to conserve energy for Round 2 but still won by 3¾ lengths.
Racing on Day 2 saw “two giants of the schoolboy rowing scene” meet for a “gladiatorial battle”, with Shiplake racing St Paul’s School. Shiplake went ahead by ½ length but St Paul’s fought back and they were neck-and-neck for “a race that would normally be seen at the quarter-final or semi-finals”. Shiplake was still leading by a canvas as they approached the enclosures but St Paul’s changed gears and took charge for the final sprint and managed to finish one length ahead much to the devastation of the Shiplake boys. As some consolation, St Paul’s went on to win the Princess Challenge Cup.
Diamond Jubilee Challenge (Girls’ Quad)
The Shiplake quad of Mia Vickerman, Scarlet Maleham, Jess Weir and Merry Oakes were pre-qualified for this event and also a ‘selected’ crew which also meant they automatically proceeded to Round 2 of this competition. They met Bedford Modern School on HRR Thursday and took an early lead, opening the gap as they rowed comfortably down the course finishing with a verdict of ‘easily’. The Friday race was against Lea Rowing Club and Shiplake again took an early lead and raced “serenely” to the finish line, winning by 4½ lengths. Saturday’s semi-final saw Shiplake meet Claires Court School in the last race of the day in driving rain. Despite a shaky start for Shiplake steering they edged ahead but Claires Court worked back and took the lead at the half way mark. It was a very close second half of the race but despite a last charge Shiplake couldn’t close the gap and lost by just ½ length. Claires Court went on to win the event the next day.
We once again hired a videographer to capture the week and in addition to a daily 'short social' he interviewed some of the rowers and put together this overview to highlight what Henley Royal Regatta means to them and the emotion and commitment it brings.
Flickr album: HRR 2022 |
Height: auto |
Theme: Default | Skin: Default Skin
