Record-breaking at Schools Head

The 2016 Schools Head of the River Race saw a record entry from Cantabs, with the Hills Road crews being joined by club crews from multiple schools. For almost all of the participants, this was their first opportunity to race on the Thames, and they were excited to compete on the same stretch of water that would be the site of The 2016 Boat Races just 10 days later

Hills Road Sixth Form college again continued their fine tradition of great Schools Head performances.

The first men’s crew of Ben Whitelaw, Finlay Beauchamp, Ben Radcliffe Brown, Edward Crampton, Harvey Dinkele, Dom Bennett, Karlo Miracle, Samuel Gibbs and William Topping were both the fastest state (non-independent) college, and the fastest Cambridge crew. They completed the course in 20:09, coming 23 third in the School 1st Eights category beating the Leys school by four places and 1 minute and 44 seconds.

The second men’s crew of Matthew Adams, William Bryant, Freddie Brooke Barnes, Andrew Forbes, Abdel-hadi Haque, Daniel Shefford, Jon Platts, Robert Oxford Pope and Freddie Scott, reached the finish in 22:46 and were 15th in the School 2nd Eights category.

The women’s first crew of May Perrin, Emily May, Rosie Robinson, Katie Hill, Bea Loveridge, Ellie Gibbs, Molly Tooher-Rudd, Emma Watson and Betty Tooher-Rudd had an especially good performance to come 12th in the Champ Girls Eights category, in a time of 22:32. Their coach, Rachael Crockford, said:

“For a school that only has a handful of sessions in a term, 12th in both Women’s Championship 8s and Womens 1st School 8s is an absolutely amazing achievement. All of the girls rowed to the best of their ability and showed their ability on the day being the fastest Womens crew to represent a Cambridge club or school.”

A second Hills Road Girls crew was made up of those who only started to learn to row in October: Hollie Adams, Ellie Stephens, Anna Norgett, Kiah Conroy, Becca Durrant, Elise Burgess, Sophia Rodrigues, Alice Haddow, Beth Bradshaw. Despite this being only their second off-Cam race, they came a creditable 13th in the  Girls School First 8 category with a time of 24:23. The whole experience was an adventure for them, made all the more tricky by the boat almost sinking before the start when it settled onto a submerged spike whilst waiting to start. Luckily, as they saw water pouring into the boat, they were able to pull into a nearby boathouse and get a patch put over the hole. As Becca Durrant put it “We punctured. We patched. We conquered”. Coach Phil Gunning said:

“I am so proud of this set of girls who only started rowing in October through a learn to row course. They have come on in leaps and bounds especially in the last few weeks, and have gelled together to become a solid crew. The enthusiasm they have for the sport, and their desire to make even more progress through extra land-training and outings bodes well for the Town bumps and beyond. In addition, the coxing from the 15 year old Hollie Adams was exceptional, taking control of the boat and steering a perfect line down the difficult course.”

In addition to the Hills Road crews, Cantabs sent two crews of 15 and 16 year old girls to compete in the Girls School First 8 and the J16 Championship Girls categories. The girls attend a number of schools in the area (Bottisham VC, Parkside, Chesterton, Perse Girls, St Marys, Impington VC) all of whom generously excused the girls from lessons on that day in order to take part in this national event. The J16 crew of Ellie Wicks (cox), Roisin Screaton (stroke), Peony Bracey, Imogen Forbes, Katie Lacey, Eva Hill, Sophia Gibbs, Pippa Evans, Tabitha Thornton-Swan (bow) came 12th in their category with a time of 22.55. Coach Phil Gunning said:

“These girls have been rowing with Cantabs for a number of years, but the tidal Thames is the trickiest river they have ever raced on. The speed of the stream, and the need to steer a course to make best use of it, is a challenging test for both rowers and especially the cox 15 year old Ellie Wicks). The calm organised manner of Ellie settled the nerves of the crew right from the outset”

The other Cantabs crew of Fiona McBride (cox), Helena Grisenthwaite (stroke), Chloe Coonar, Jess Norman, Lily Rathbone, Kitty Hardyman, Amelise Burr, Shona Bordoni, and Emily Knighton (bow) came 14th in their category with a time of 24.43. Phil Gunning said

“Unfortunately the crew was not able to train together before the outing, but this did not show as the crew rowed with good rhythm throughout. Helena set a good stroke rate from the start that the crew was able to follow.”

A girls’ crew from Champion of the Thames RC shared transport down to London with the Hills Road/Cantabs rowers. These girls competed in the Girls 1st Eights category, getting a time of 23.43 placing them 11th in their category. Champs coach Anna-Loiuse Lawrence said:

“For us it was very special to have Cambridge town rowers clubbing together to take part in an event dominated by independent schools and racing in respectable style against very polished opposition.”

Overall 99 juniors from 4 clubs in Cambridge (the two other clubs being The Leys School, and St Marys School) competed in the Schools Head. The results for the Leys and St Marys are: Leys J15 1st VIII 26.06 (18th in category); Leys 1st Eights 21.53 (27); Leys Quad 20.41 (24); Leys IV 24.21 (13); St Marys Girls 1st Eights 25.14 (15th in category)

Cambridge News write-up is available online, with more photos of the Hills Road, Cantabs and Champs crews available on Facebook.

Photos and full results are available at http://www.shorr.org.uk/

Thanks to all the coaches who helped make the day a success, and especially to Mike Hunter and Phil Gunning for towing the trailers.

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