News 2010

Note: click on a photo for an enlargement.

Worcester Autumn Regatta ~ 4th September

Worcester Autumn Regatta is the last regatta of the summer season, on a sprint 500m course. Wallingford Rowing Club Juniors contested nine events and finished on a high note with all crews reaching the finals and winning seven events. The youngsters raced twenty-five races, winning twenty-two with one dead-heat and just two narrow defeats.

In the J18 age group, Ed Hares had convincing wins in the single sculls before joining up with Jack Whelan in their double scull to power through to victory in the afternoon. In the J16 age group, the club entered two doubles which both reached the final where, in a very tight race, the younger crew of George Axon and Jasper Lynch narrowly won . In singles, Elijah Hayden reached the final with two good wins before losing a good final to Worcester by a half length.

The WJ15 girls excelled, winning all classes available with very polished performances. The quad survived a very good race with Worcester to win by one foot and then beating Bewdley in the final. The WJ15 double of Leanne Reeves and Hannah Whelan, gold medallists at National Schools Regatta, proved their pedigree with a convincing win in their event. Wallingford further confirmed their class in this age group when both Hannah Whelan and Alice Walker made the final of the WJ15 singles where Hannah went on to win. In J15 boys, George Axon and Jasper Lynch followed up their earlier performance by reaching the final of the J15 double sculls where they dead-heated with Stourport. The re-row was a tight canvas win for Stourport. In their first ever Regatta, twelve year old Lucy Walker teamed up with Beth Coombes to take the WJ14 doubles in a tidy and mature performance. Altogether, a successful day which bodes well for the year to come

Winners

J18 2x Ed Hares, Jack Whelan
J18 1x Ed Hares
J16 2x George Axon, Jasper Lynch
WJ15 4x Leanne Reeves, Molly Garamoudi, Gemma Henderson, Alice Walker, Lucy Walker (cox)
WJ15 2x Leanne Reeves, Hannah Whelan
WJ15 1x Hannah Whelan
WJ14 2x Lucy Walker, Beth Coombes

Oxford City Royal Regatta ~ 21st & 22nd August

A popular event for Wallingford Rowing Club members is the two days of Oxford City Regatta. With most of the senior squad taking a break after the main regatta season, it was left to the juniors, the IM3/Novice group and individual scullers to represent the club. Over the two days, the club won thirteen events, covering entries in eights, quad sculls, double sculls and singles.

Pride of place went to the junior Quart Eight which won their three races to win the quart sprint event against adult crews for individual quart tankards - an unusual trophy to be valued. In quad sculls, four of the eight sculled together to contest Junior 18 quads, winning in style. Not to be outdone, the WJ14 girls raced up a year in their coxed quad at WJ15 to win their event. The J14 double scull of George Axon and Jasper Lynch had a good day to take their event. All of the club's other wins were in single sculls with pride of place going to Sam Wells who steadily rose through the status classes with an IM3 win on Saturday followed by an IM2 win on Sunday morning and the Elite single on Sunday afternoon.

In the women’s event, Atlanta St John won Elite singles. Alice Walker added to her quad win of Saturday with a committed win in WJ14 singles and Ed Hares won junior 18 sculls. At the other end of the age scale, Mike Edge won Masters D event and Bill Chambers won Masters B on both days. Other crews raced well, notably the Womens IM3 coxed four which won their way to the final on both days with wins in heats and semi-finals. The Wallingford Juniors were judged to be the most successful junior team over the two days and were awarded the junior Victor Ludorum prize of a pair of sculling blades which they accepted gratefully from their hosts, City of Oxford Rowing Club.

Winning crews on Saturday
Quart Eights Mike Murray, Conor Marsh, Jamie Axon, Jack Whelan, Rob Hares, Ed Hares, Tom Ajose, Dan Garside and Luke Taylor (cox)
Junior quad Tom Ajose, Jack Whelan, Ed Hares, Jamie Axon
WJ14 4x+ Alice Walker, Leanne Reeves, Gemma Henderson, Hannah Whelan and Lucy Walker (cox)
J14 2x George Axon, Jasper Lynch
IM3 1x Sam Wells
Masters B1x Bill Chambers

Winning crews on Sunday
Elite 1x Sam Wells
IM21x Sam Wells
WElite 1x Atlanta St John
J18 1x Ed Hares
WJ14 1x Alice Walker
Masters D 1x Mike Edge
Masters B 1x Bill Chambers

World Rowing U23 Championships, Belarus ~ 22nd-25th July

Wallingford Rowing Club is delighted to report that two of its members enjoyed medal success at the World U23s. Ertan Hazine and Carl Delaney are both bringing Bronze Medals home from the World Under 23 Championships in Brest, Belarus.

Ertan Hazine, competing at his first Under 23 Championships at just 18 years of age, raced in the GB coxed four in Brest. The four qualified for the final in exciting style by rowing through the New Zealand crew in the last few strokes to secure second place. A tough final followed with less than 2 seconds covering the top three crews. The Italians and Germans proved to be too strong for the British quartet and they crossed the line in the bronze medal position. This is a stunning achievement and rewards all the hard work from Ertan, coach Ben Townsend and Wallingford Rowing Club over the past 12 months.

Carl Delaney, who has just finished studying at Nottingham University, learned to row at Wallingford. At his second U23 World champs, Carl secured his first U23 medal, winning a Bronze in the Lightweight Quad.

Molesey Amateur Regatta ~ Sunday 18th July

The Junior events for Molesey Amateur Regatta are held the day after the main regatta, offering events for juniors aged 12-16yrs in sculling events. Wallingford sent a small contingent of our J14 athletes and were rewarded with three wins. Racing is over a 500m downstream course.

Alice Walker put in a series of strong performances in WJ14 1x, sculling very well to win her heat by 4.5 lengths, her quarter-final by 2.5 lengths and beating Lady Eleanor Holles (LEH) in the semi-final by 3 lengths. The Final proved more demanding but Alice rose to the challenge, winning an exciting race against Weybridge by 3 feet! An excellent performance. George Axon and Jasper Lynch raced a J14 2x, winning their semi-final by 3 feet and beating Marlow in the Final by clear water. Gemma Henderson and Hannah Whelan had a comfortable heat in their WJ14 2x, beat LEH by 3/4L in the quarter-final and were held to half a length by Staines in the semi-final. Their final against Tideway Scullers was a more comfortable 2.5 lengths. A good day of racing for these young athletes and some handsome engraved glass trophies.

British Rowing Championships ~ 16th – 18th July

The British Rowing Championships (formerly the “National Rowing Championships of Great Britain”) took place at Strathclyde Country Park in Scotland this year amid traditionally windswept conditions. Wallingford Rowing Club had entries in Women’s coxed and coxless fours. The coxless four came 4th in the six-crew Final after winning the Repechage. Also racing in the Final was the coxed four which came 5th.

Henley Veteran Regatta ~ 10th July

The veteran men’s squad entered two eights (E and F) at Henley Veteran Regatta this year, the pinnacle of the veteran rowing calendar.

The E crew (over 55) won races against Old Collegians (Dublin), Hereford and Durham on their way to winning in a field that included a US crew (Noxontown Navy), Crabtree (our arch-rivals) and Christchurch. The E crew was Mark Wood (Cox), David Wright (Stroke), Andy Knight, Michael Drury, Andy Millar, Vince Kerrigan, Pieter van Vrede, Ken Houston and Peter Finnegan. A video of their semi-final against Hereford can be found on YouTube .

The F crew (over 60) beat a strong challenge from Noxontown, but lost the final to Tideway Scullers, who were avenging their defeat by us from two years ago.

The senior men also raced, winning both their events (Vet A 4+ and Vet B 4+) in style and with comfortable margins. The coxed four comprised Pete King, Darren Rhodes, Dave Bannon, Sam Bailey and cox Michael Loweth.

Henley Royal Regatta ~ 30th June – 4th July

The traditional headwinds were back for Henley Royal and Wallingford was represented in five events; as a pure club crew in The Britannia Challenge Cup and The Princess Royal Challenge Cup, and in composite crews in The Visitors’ Challenge Cup, The Remenham Challenge Cup and The Fawley Challenge Cup. Lindsey Maguire and her crew reached the Final of The Remenham Challenge Cup but were unable to defend last year’s win against a powerful Canadian crew. Ertan Hazine and his crew reached the semi-finals of The Visitors’, an outstanding achievement in itself but particularly so for an eighteen year old.

Henley Women’s Regatta ~ 18th – 20th June

Unusually for the Henley stretch, a strong tailwind dominated conditions at Henley Women’s Regatta this year, producing some fast times and new records. Wallingford entered an Elite single, a Senior Lightweight single and a Senior Eight. Our best performance came from Caroline Greves who put in a series of strong performances to become Runner-up in Senior Lwt1x.

Thames Valley Park Regatta ~ 20th June

Sunday saw some of the juniors racing over 500m at Thames Valley Park Regatta on the dreadnaught reach downstream of Reading. Our winners of the day were Lianne Reeves and Hannah Whelan in WJ U14 2x who won their heat by several lengths and their final by two lengths. This is the girls' fourth win in four successive events. In J15 doubles, Joe Slade and Elijah Hayden won their heat and semi-final before losing the final by a length to a polished Windsor Boys crew.

Reading Amateur Regatta ~ 12th & 13th June

Wallingford recorded four wins at Reading Amateur Regatta this weekend and an additional win at the Mini Regatta held for Juniors over Sunday lunchtime. On Saturday the race distance is 1500m while on Sunday the course is reduced to 1000m. The Junior Mini Regatta is held over 600m.

On Saturday, the senior women fought hard against St Joseph’s University of the USA to win Elite coxed fours in a committed performance. On Sunday, Sam Wells won his three races to emerge triumphant in IM3 single sculls. Sam clocked up a further win in the men’s elite quad. Perhaps the biggest smiles were from our novice women who beat Oxford Academicals in the final by 4 lengths.

Wallingford RC junior girls continued their successful run with a convincing win at Sunday’s Junior Mini Regatta in WJ14 coxed quads. After a bye to the semi-finals they beat Headington School in the semi-final and then Maidenhead in the final.

Saturday
WE4+ Anna Storrs, Sue Radley, Lizzie Ingram, Nicola Fitz-Simon and cox Lamorna Newcombe

Sunday
E4x Samuel Wells, Charlie Newbould, Barrie Mulder, Ben Harrop-Griffiths
IM3 1x Samuel Wells
WN4+ Becky Coombes, Olivia O’Sherry, Samantha Martin, Hannah Dearing and cox Luke Taylor
WJ14 4x+ Leanne Reeves, Maisie Stillwell-Garrett, Gemma Henderson, Hannah Whelan and cox Alice Walker

The Metropolitan Regatta ~ 5th & 6th June

Wallingford RC recorded 3 wins at the prestigious ‘Met’ regatta at Dorney Lake over the weekend. Alice Freeman triumphed in Elite single sculls on Saturday in a very strong finish to win the Earl of Iveagh Cup in a time of 8:14. Conditions were faster on Sunday when Alice retained her Elite single sculls title in a time of 7:48. Alex Woods won Senior/Intermediate 1 single sculls in an exciting race and with a very strong performance in the second 1000m where he went from 3rd to 1st position. Our men’s crew of Dave Bannon, Darren Rhodes, Richard Chambers, Ertan Hazine and cox Michael Loweth were worthy runners-up on Saturday in Elite coxed fours.

Saturday
Elite W1x Alice Freeman (Winner)
Elite 4+ Dave Bannon, Darren Rhodes, Richard Chambers, Ertan Hazine, cox Michael Loweth (Runners-up)

Sunday
Elite W1x Alice Freeman (Winner)
Senior/Intermediate 1 1x Alex Woods (Winner)

National Schools Regatta ~ 28th-30th May

Wallingford Rowing Club entered three Junior 14 crews to the National Schools Regatta, held at the National Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham.

Stars of the day were the J14 Girls double scull of Lianne Reeves and Hannah Whelan. In the initial 18 boat time trial they looked sharp and amongst the best of a strong field, winning their way to the semi-finals. Here, they won the six boat race by around three lengths to progress to the final. The final saw an exciting race for the first 500 metres until the Wallingford girls drew away from the pursuing crews to win by a handsome three length victory, with Ross Rowing Club and Lady Eleanor Holles school as the other medal-winners. The delighted girls received their gold medals and the Tristan Hewins Commemorative Cup to hold for a year.

The boys double scull of George Axon and Jasper Lynch narrowly failed to qualify for the semi-finals, losing out by less than a second. The girls WJ14 quad scull of Alice Walker, Molly Garmroudi, Maisie Stillwell-Garrett and Gemma Henderson, and coxed by Emily Taylor won their way through the 28 boat entry to reach the semi-final. However, the semi-final saw them in fourth place in the six boat race, narrowly missing a place for the final.

Junior coach, Tony Wheel, said that the girls’ medals reflected the work and commitment of all of the club's junior rowers together with supportive parents and it was a pleasure to see their efforts rewarded.

Thames Ditton Regatta ~ 15th May

Wallingford RC’s novice women’s Eight won their semi-final but lost the final to Kingston Grammar School. The juniors were represented by a WJ14 quad and a WJ14 double who had to race up an age group to WJ15 as there was no double event in their age group. The quad won their quarter-final and semi-final but could not beat Henley Rowing Club in the final. The double had more success, winning heat and semi-final with some ease before a very close final where they beat Kingston Rowing Club by a half length.

Winning crew in WJ15 2x
Lianne Reeves
Hannah Whelan

International Belgian Rowing Championships ~ 8th May

Wallingford RC returned to Ghent for the international regatta hosted by Sport Gent. The sunshine proved elusive but conditions were good on the 2000m course. Medals for the club came from Caroline Greves and Anna Reid, with both the Men’s coxed four and the Women’s Eight reaching the Final.

W2x Silver Medal Anna Reid, Caroline Greves
LW1x Silver Medal Caroline Greves
W1x Bronze Medal Anna Reid

Abingdon Spring Head ~ 18th April

Raced on 2000m upstream, Wallingford Rowing Club turned out in force to support the event hosted by our local rivals at Abingdon. Wallingford won 11 events across Senior, Junior and Veteran categories. Notable wins include the Senior Women’s Eight who won The Buckler Cup for being the fastest women’s crew of the day and the Junior Boys’ Quad who won The Sechi Challenge Cup for being the fastest Junior crew of the day. The hero of the day, however, was 63yr old Vince Kerrigan, a member of the winning Veteran E crew. His triumph was the culmination of a remarkable recovery from a heart attack in November, a recovery made possible by fellow crewmate and hero, Dr Andy Millar.

Winning Crews:
WIM2 2x Philomena Burrows, Hannah Blaikie
WIM3 8 Philomena Burrows, Sharon O’Loughlin, Hannah Dearing, Bea Longworth, Margery Pepper, Caroline Benham, Jennifer Lambert, Hannah Blaikie, cox Michael Loweth
WN 4x Becky Coombes, Hannah Dearing, Sharon O’Loughlin, Margery Pepper
IM1 2- Tom Ajose, Ed Hares
N 2x Elijah Hayden, Jack Whelan
J18 4x Tom Ajose, Jack Whelan, Elijah Hayden, Ed Hares
J18 2x Jamie Axon, Conor Marsh
J14 2x George Axon, Jasper Lynch
WJ14 2x Gemma Henderson, Hannah Whelan
Vet D 8 Alice Brown, Judith Carr, Sally Axon, Anthony Cooke-Yarborough, Andy Millar, Michael Drury, Pieter van Vrede, Becky Waller, cox Mark Wood
Vet E 8 Pete Finnegan, Vince Kerrigan, Pieter van Vrede, Anthony Cooke-Yarborough, Andy Millar, Michael Drury, Andy Knight, Jeremy Warrell, cox Mark Wood

Ghent Spring International Regatta ~ 10-11 April

Saturday

W8+ Gold Medal – Philomena Burrows, Sharon O’Loughlin, Margery Pepper, Nicola Fitz-Simon, Lizzie Ingram, Caroline Benham, Jennifer Lambert, Hannah Blaikie, cox Sam James

Sunday (Flemish International Championships)

W8+ Gold Medal – Jennifer Lambert, Caroline Benham, Margery Pepper, Nicola Fitz-Simon, Lizzie Ingram, Sue Radley, Anna Storrs, Hannah Blaikie, cox Michael Loweth

Wallingford RC Training Camp, Ghent, Belgium ~ 4th -11th April

This year, 21 club members travelled to Ghent for a one-week training camp to develop our rowing and prepare for the forthcoming racing season. Men and women from across the club, both sweep rowers and scullers, with ages ranging from 17yrs to 55yrs participated in the camp.

Plenty of sunshine and good conditions made the hard work easier and our hosts, Sport Gent, could not have been more helpful.

The training week concluded with a weekend of racing where every member of the women’s squad at the camp went home with a gold medal. This included two novices in our group, Squad Captain Sharon O’Loughlin and 17 year old Margery Pepper. What a great place to win your novices! A real tribute to the club and its coaching.

Many thanks go to Mick Brind (Head Coach), Ben Townsend (Coach, Boatman, Head Fixer etc etc) and our hosts Sport Gent for making such a productive week possible.

Veterans’ Eights Head of the River Race ~ 28th March

WRC’s veterans’ squad entered a Women’s Vet B Eight which came 41st in a time of 14:32.86.

Men’s Eights Head of the River Race ~ 27th March

WRC’s men's squad entered two eights which came 89th and 322nd of the 388 crews which raced.

Women’s Eights Head of the River Race ~ 13th March

WRC’s women’s squad entered two eights which came 30th and 73rd of the 289 crews which raced.

National Junior Sculling Head of the River ~ 12th March

Mid-March has given a successful start to the 2010 season for Wallingford Rowing Club Juniors. On Friday 12th March, the "Oarsport" National Junior Sculling Head of the River race was held at Dorney Lake. Raced in quadruple sculls over 5400 metres for Junior 16 and over and 3600 metres for the younger crews, the event attracted a huge entry of nearly 400 crews from all over Great Britain. Wallingford Rowing Club entered three boats and were rewarded with two medals. Pride of place went to the Junior 14 girls with a very mature scull giving them the Silver medal in a field of 33 boats just one second behind gold medallists from Headington School. The experienced young athletes in the Junior 17 boys coxless quad won Bronze in the field of 17 boats in their event. Wallingford's third crew, the J15 boys finished 18th out of 37 boats.

George Axon and Jasper Lynch took a double scull to Gloucester Head of the River race on Sunday 14th March where they won J14 double sculls, not only beating their three opponents but also three of the four J14 quad sculls who raced.

MEDAL CREWS:
J14 girls Lianne Reeves, Maisie Stillwell-Garrett, Gemma Henderson, Hannah Whelan, Alice Walker (cox)
J17 boys Tom Ajose, Jack Whelan, Jamie Axon, Ed Hares

Hampton Fours and Eights Head ~ 6th February 2010

Hampton fours and eights head of the river is a major event for juniors, giving the first indicator of form for the coming season. Wallingford had some encouraging performances.

The best of these included the boys J18 coxed four of Mike Murray, Conor Marsh, Jamie Axon and Ed Hares coxed by Alice Walker who came second in their class.

However, the squad’s most impressive performance was from the WJ14 quad of Leanne Reeves, Maisie Stillwell-Garrett, Gemma Henderson and Hannah Whelan coxed by Lucy Walker who were runners-up in their class, only 3 seconds behind Headington School, Oxford in a field of 18 crews.

Wallingford Rowing Club launches £300,000 appeal for new gym in time for 2012 London Olympics

(as published in the Wallingford Herald)

WALLINGFORD Rowing Club has launched a £300,000 appeal to build a new weights room and gym in time for the 2012 London Olympics.

The 280-strong club, which sent three members to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, needs to replace a rusting, asbestos-ridden shed in the Cattle Market car park used as a weights room since the 1970s. It has submitted a planning application to South Oxfordshire District Council for a two-storey, red-brick building to house the gym and weights training equipment needed to help the club continue to compete at the highest level.

The club’s shack has no heating, a leaky roof covered by a tarpaulin and suffers from damp which has started to damage the equipment.

Club committee member Atlanta St John, 23, who hopes to compete in the 2012 Olympics, said: “The club wanted to do something about this ten years ago, but it never really took off.

“Now we are trying to push it forwards. We want to do it as quickly as possible, but we need to raise the money ourselves without taking any from the club.

“We want it built before the Olympics in 2012.

“It is the big event coming up which will put sport in everyone’s minds, and it is a realistic target.”

If the club gains planning permission next month, the building would be a metre taller than the shed, with a basement sunk into the ground to give it two storeys.

Miss St John said: “We are on tenterhooks until we know whether we have got planning permission, but we have never got this far before. When we start fundraising, we want to get the public involved as much as possible.”

The 62-year-old club is forging closer links with Wallingford School to encourage as many young people as possible to take up rowing.

Up to six of the club’s members could compete in the 2012 Olympics at Eton College’s Dorney Lake, near Windsor. In Beijing, the club had three members competing — Alice Freeman was part of the women’s coxed eight, Paul Mattick competed in the lightweight men’s four, and Helen Casey rowed in the women’s lightweight double sculls.

Ben Townsend, 29, who coaches Olympic hopeful Ertan Hazine, 18, said: “As a coach, the 11,000m between Benson and Cleeve Lock is the best stretch of non-tidal river in the country. It gives you the perfect length to row on to get everything you need out of it. But between November and March, there will usually be four or five weekends where we cannot go on the river because of flooding. We need a good gym and a weights room to do the training that keeps us competitive.”

Mayor of Wallingford Dee Cripps said: “The building is so derelict this project just needs to happen.”

She said it would give a “fantastic boost” to promoting leisure on the river.