Shiplake College Boat Club delivered its most successful performance in history at the 2026 National Schools’ Regatta, producing a remarkable weekend of racing that saw the College return home with three gold medals and three silvers.
Returning to the iconic Dorney Lake, the College entered 14 crews this year and had a record 106 rowers taking part across the three-day regatta, representing 28% of eligible pupils from Years 9-13. An impressive eight of the 14 crews reached an A Final, with 45 rowers being presented a medal and a winner’s t-shirt.
Boys J14 Coxed Quads
First to make their way down the 1500m course on the Friday was the Boys’ J14 Coxed Quad, with F. Walton, Finlay Ferens, Arthur Pearce, Mathis Rousseau-Cox, and Alexander Bellman (cox). The unofficial results had them joint 12th in the time trial but 0.1 second was added to their official time to push them into the C Final – but still an impressive 13th out of 55 crews. Due to the very windy conditions their C Final was also conducted as a time trial instead of lane racing and despite not having crews in neighbouring lanes to push and give an indication of position, they came an agonising second place by just 0.86 seconds.
Girls’ J14 Second Octuples
This crew rowed superbly in their time trial to finish 4th out of 16 crews, earning them a place in the A Final and in contention for a medal. Unfortunately the windy conditions contributed to their race plan being scuppered by technical difficulties at the start of the race from which they were unable to recover so finished 6th. The crew of Masha Budnyk, Tilly Lawrence, Kitty Pivonka, M. Smith, Millie Green, Pfeiffer Peterson, Laila Webb, D. Carlsson and Evie Wright (cox) should be proud of their time trial result.
Boys’ J14 First Octuples
The newly formed crew of Henry Benton, Jan Strzelecki, Oliver Barron, Sean Casey, C. Rhys Evans, William Sefton Jenkins, Max Buchanan, Luke Studdert-Kennedy and M. Duggan (cox) looked technically good on the course but unfortunately missed out on progressing to the Finals stages by one position, coming 25th out of 27 crews.
Girls’ J14 First Octuples
The J14 girls first octuple came 15th out of 25 crews in their time trial to be placed in a C Final. This was also conducted under time trial conditions due to the high winds and the girls came second. Well done to Arabella May, Erin Chester, Francesca Farrell, Lydia Hourd, Lyra Jones, Amelie Mertes, Felicity Armstrong, Anna De Felice and Lili Baietta (cox).
Boys’ J15 Second Eights
The J15 second eight came 11th out of 18 crews in their time trial, putting them into the B Final. In windy six-lane conditions they put in a fantastic race to win the convincingly and indeed in a time that would have secured them a bronze medal in the A Final. Well done to Lorenzo Bowater-Rubio, Jack Thomas, Oli Gilbart-Smith, Zac Hashemi, Zeb Harrison, Maksim Sergeev, Max Terry, Florian Jenkins and Declan Pires (cox)
Boys J15 First Eights
The crew, consisting of Oliver Houldsworth, Leo Mckenna-Mayes, Alexander Palmer, Mo Britton, Oliver Thorpe, Moritz Buchner, William Wackerle, George Dallas and T. Lane (cox) came 8th in their time trial, putting them into the B Final. They battled hard in this race to come from fourth place at the 500m mark to finish third overall.
Boys’ J16 Coxed Fours
Opening the Saturday racing was Luke Leamon, Joseph Swankie, James Weeks, Franco Bigmore Wallace and Hayden Cookson (cox). They came second in their time trial and proceeded to give a gutsy performance in their final, coming from third place at the 500m mark to be sitting at second at the half-way mark and then leading by less than a second at the 1500m mark. Dulwich College kept Shiplake working hard right to the bitter as the two schools were neck and neck in the final stretch, with Shiplake nudging ahead to take gold and lift the Arundel Cup.
Boys’ Third Eights
With only 8 crews in this category the boys were guaranteed to reach the A Final but the time trial was still important to secure a good lane and so it was a strong start as they achieved the fastest time trial time. The boys were sat at second place for the first three-quarters of the final, battling it out with Radley in front and St Paul’s School hot on their heels. They put in an incredible charge in the final few hundred metres to take the lead and take the gold. With great conditions and a time of 6.03.77 they also achieved a new course record for the West Cup for Third Eights, beating the record by almost 16 seconds, the previous time being 6:19.58 set in 2012. Congratulations to Oliver Bennett, Liam Lerman, Henry Howe-Davies, Jack Terry, Alex Butler, Charlie Scott, Finn Willis, Max Meakins and Will Houldsworth (cox).
Boys’ Second Eights
In the time trial for this category Shiplake came second, just 0.2s behind Radley. The boys were third at the 500m mark of their final as spent the majority of the race trying to close down the length lead held by Radley. They managed to hold off a strong sprint finish from Eton and achieved a fantastic silver place. Well done to I Markham, Finlay Cooper, Zac Powell, Otto Berg De Kerangal, Artem Soloviov, Aston Phillips, William Nicholas, Ethan Thompson and Mercy Milton (cox).
Girls’ Second Eights
With only five crews entered into this new category for girls’ second eights, the time trial results were difficult to read much into yet Shiplake recorded the second fastest time. Shiplake and Headington, however, left the rest of the field behind in the final, with Shiplake hot on the heels of Headington but unable to close the gap any more than by a third of a length, ultimately claiming silver – 24 second ahead of third place. Congratulations to Rose Sullivan, Honor Fackrell, Lauren Fiddy, Lilia Cottam, Felicity Hudson, Estella Dean, Ella Butler, Tilly Foreman and Flo Smalley (cox).
Girls’ Championship Eights
For the premier event for girls sweep racing, Shiplake made their intentions clear by recording the fastest time in the time trial on Saturday. Later that afternoon they also convincingly won their semi-final to secure a place in the A Final the next day.
However, the Sunday final got underway in an unexpected way as St Edward’s Oxford shot out the blocks and were leading by a length by the 500m mark, with Shiplake placed in third, a fraction behind Headington. At the 1000m mark St Edward’s were still a length ahead, with Shiplake starting to edge away from Headington. The next 500m saw Shiplake gain ground on St Edward’s boat with every stroke and by 1500m their lead had reduced to a third of a length. The Shiplake girls had the momentum and continued to inch closer and closer to row through St Edward’s in the last stretch of the course, digging deep to put in a sprint finish that saw them win by 3 seats in the end.
Congratulations to A Knight, Ava Lowe, Zara Barnett, Ottilie Campbell-Reide, Aaliyah Hall, Annunciata Ings, I Thurnham, Alice Dargue and Charlie Watkins (cox) for retaining the championship title.
The livestream commentary noted that 'This will be especially sweet for Dan Safdari and Dave Currie who run that programme, they’ve done at building Shiplake into one of the most revered rowing institutions arguably on the planet for U19 rowing girls and boys.'
Girls’ Championship Double Sculls
Eleanor Horsley and Isabelle Fawcett came 18th out of 35 crews in their time trial, placing them in the C Final. They established a good lead by the 500m in their final and they continued to edge away to create a substantial distance from the rest of the pack by 1000m. Whilst a battle for second place took place between three boats behind them, they kept their lead comfortably and finished the race over 6 seconds ahead of the next crew.
Boys’ J16 Quad
B Maggs, Flynn Burrow, Miley Vann, S Lee put in a phenomenal time trial effort to finish the fastest of 25 boats, just 0.8 seconds ahead of Windsor Boys in second. In the A Final later in the afternoon Shiplake were in third place at the 500m, 1000 and 1500 markers, with less than between them, Infinity BC and Windsor Boys. As Infinity fell behind to settle for third, the Shiplake J16s put in a huge sprint finish to close down Windsor but crossed the line just a bow ball, 0.2 seconds, after them.
Boys’ Championship Eights
The boys’ first eight came third in the time trials on the Saturday which meant they progressed straight to the semi-final races on the Sunday instead of entering the Repechage races. The crew, consisting of Luke Johnston, Zac Young, Will Tavinor, Arne Nickel, Bela Rücker, Luca Hunt-Davis, Barnaby Doyle, Rupert Evans and B Loggie (cox) came second in the semi-final the next day, 1.48 seconds behind Radley. Radley were quick off the blocks in the final and all the chasing crews worked hart in the blistering heat to try and catch them – Shiplake ended up 5th, missing out on a medal but still posting an extremely quick time of 05:49.13.
Behind the Scenes
This record-breaking achievement was the product of months of dedication, discipline, and preparation. The commitment of the athletes has been immense, and equal recognition must go to all the coaches, whose expertise and tireless efforts ensured that every crew arrived at Dorney Lake ready to perform at their best. A heartfelt thank you to all the coaches for the work put in in advance of the regatta, and for their commitment and support throughout the weekend itself.
The Boat Club’s success was also buoyed by the incredible support network surrounding the athletes. Families, friends, and members of the Shiplake community turned out in force at Dorney Lake, while many more followed the racing online. Thank you to all the supporters – whether cheering from the banks or watching from afar – whose encouragement helped drive the crews forward.
This historic performance cements Shiplake College’s status as one of the leading school rowing programmes in the country. The Boat Club continues to go from strength to strength and is testament to talent, teamwork, and the enduring spirit of Shiplake rowing. Such figures underline both the strength and depth of the programme, as well as the inclusive nature of rowing at Shiplake, where participation and performance go hand in hand. With a large cohort of younger athletes gaining invaluable experience at this year’s regatta, the future looks exceptionally bright.
