Latest Rowing News

After the cancellation of Shrewsbury Regatta (first time in my memory) and the disappointment of all that entailed, heads were put together to resurrect an event on a smaller scale.

With crews from Pengwern, Guildford and even a few from Paris, together with boys from the J16/J15 and J14 group and the Girls squad, we raced a time trial over the Sunday Regatta course and then proceeded to race crews of a similar speed, rather than boat types. The aim was to get some close competitive racing!

It was an interesting spectacle to see a double scull racing an 8 or a single race a coxed 4!!  However, what a great success, all our crews had some fine racing, possibly better than they would have had at the real Regatta!

In fact, such a success that we may try and squeeze a similar event in to the programme next year...

Many thanks to all the coaches for their help in running the event and the many parents who came down to the river.

PM

For the first time in three years, the weather at Dorney for the annual Wallingford Regatta was benign - such a bonus!

RSSBC 1st 8 leading the pack (far side) in IM2 8's Wallingford Regatta

Our 1st and 2nd 8 left on Saturday afternoon, in preparation for their early races on Sunday. The 2nd 8 were first up at 8.56AM; not surprisingly, not too many parents had managed to reach Dorney by this hour!

Entered into IM3 8’s, a  senior event, meant that it would be extremely difficult to gauge the speed of our opposition as this event would attract School 1st and 2nd 8’s, club senior crews as well as University entries.

Our heat went well, 2nd to St Georges College  1st 8 and safely through to the semi final. This proved one step too far with a 4th place, behind Eton 2nd 8, Bedford 1st 8 and Caius College.

The 2nd 8 were also racing in the afternoon, so no rest for them. Again opposition was tough in J18B 8’s as many lesser rowing Schools enter their 1st 8 into such events. However, practice is the name of the game, especially on this multi lane 2K track.  Again, progress to the final was not possible, but there was only one defeat by a 2nd 8 in the process.

The 1st 8 were entered into Senior events, to gain valuable close racing experience. Firstly IM1 8’s, where we managed a win in our heat, with Eton 1st 8 winning the other semi, this setting up a good final. Honours went to Sport Imperial, with RSSBC 2nd and Eton 3rd.  The boys were certainly not pleased with 2nd, even to one of the UK’s most prestigious Rowing programmes.

So to IM2 8’s, another heat win and then a good final race giving us victory over St Paul’s and Radley.

All in all a great day for experience, certainly both crews will gain boat speed with this kind of close racing.

Shrewsbury Regatta will hopefully be taking place next weekend (river conditions allowing), and then to Nottingham City Regatta on  Saturday 19th as final race experience before National Schools.

Paul Manser

JIRR, Nottingham WJ162X

The past 3 weeks have seen Bridget Lapage (EDH LVI) join forces with local Pengwern Junior Issy Tenison-Collins (due to join MSH next term) to form a West Midlands crew for the National Regional team event.

With Holme Pierrepont presenting its typical water the crew were understandably anxious. However any anxiety was more than met with excitement and a determination to produce a solid row. Conditions were tricky, but with the focus on strong finishes and quick catches it meant the crew were able to take advantage of the conditions, and that they did, easily.

After a slow start, the crew, stroked by Tenison-Collins, steered by Lapage, steadily rowed through from 6th place to a point where they were challenging an experienced Grange School for 2nd place in their heat. On this occasion it was not quite to be the case, but the Pengwern/RSSBC composite secured in a stylish fashion a place in the A final with a time of 6:07. With scores on the doors there were just 4 seconds separating 4 crews for the bronze medal position, making for a tantalising and exciting final.

Unfortunately afternon racing was cancelled leaving two rather despondent individuals only contemplating their 'potential' for the final.

A fantastic race day experience marred only by the weather. Thanks must go to Margaret Sayer and Pengwern for all their help with the occasion.

CHLW

After a brief stint at home, away from the coaches’ uncompromising routines, the ‘rascals’ (as Todd so frequently calls us) returned to Shrewsbury to their ‘real’ home, the boathouse, for a quick glass of milk and two hour paddle with Todd. One of our companions, Aut, had a marginally longer journey back from Bangkok.

The next day, we travelled to Heathrow's T5, and several long hours later found ourselves in Washington Dulles airport with a few more hours’ travelling awaiting us! We waited outside the airport, amazed by the clear skies and lack of rain, to be greeted by Larry (one of Todd’s many associates and friends in the USA) and a convoy of typically American sized minibuses. Todd navigated through the ‘wilderness’ with great enthusiasm and experience, showing us unneeded parts of the Suburban capital only twice in our quest to reach the legendary boathouse of Thomas Jefferson School which overlooked the beautiful Occoquan. The boathouse was situated perfectly on the river which overlooked an awe-inspiring forest with all types of creatures, even bears (rowing joke – please ask), roaming around. 

After a brief paddle on the Occoquan, we were greeted by our host families. A quick power nap in the car followed. My roommate, Trevor, and I awoke from our slumber to the magnificent view of impressive houses and yes, we were to be staying in them! Having not eaten lunch earlier, we decided to opt for the meal option opposed to sleep which proved a very good decision. The food was absolutely divine and plentiful, and after a long meal in which we got to know our host and his family, we retired for the night.

The wafting smell of bacon and eggs sneaked through our bedroom door at the magical time of 6 o’clock which was enough to get us Brits out of bed in a flash. We sprinted upstairs and engaged in the loving breakfast of bacon, eggs and croissants, and left the house promptly to go for morning practice.

After a morning row, Mr Manser drove us to the fast-food chain, ‘Five Guys.’ The food was typically American with fries and burgers, and each portion could have fed five guys. After a spot of revision, our afternoon practice saw the crews take on the Thomas Jefferson crews. Both Shrewsbury crews performed exceptionally well, winning the majority of longer type pieces with the 1st VIII posting some very quick times. Racing was followed by the drive home and the traditional snooze. Our evening events with the T.J boys included a sunset drive of the DC monuments, a shopping spree at Tyson’s mall (spending the parents’ money!) and food galore. We tried every ice-cream and salt-shake flavour America had to offer!

On our last day with T.J we raced over 500 metres. The 1st VIII once again posted quick times, beating T.J in the process whilst the 2nd VIII struggled to find winning form narrowly missing out on victory. The Thomas Jefferson families were undisputedly some of the kindest and hospitable people we have ever met. A huge thank you was in order before…

Peter Gadsden

...we left the state of Virginia soon after last good byes with our TJ families in the legendary Five Guys and headed west for Cincinnati. The first hour of my bus ride featured the interrogation of our very own ex-London detective/ ex-rowing coach/ ex-football coach/ boatman, Keith Brown. Who happened to be our chauffer and DJ for the journey.  After a coffee break, a brief ‘gas’ stop and a few wrong turns, we eventually arrived at the motel where we would spend our night, having made great use of their recreational facilities - a pool and a hot tub.

Breakfast was at 9:00 as we were in no rush. That morning Keith was disguised as Gordon Ramsey, cooking us delicious waffles which melted in our mouths. Three hours’ sleep in the bus later, we arrived in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. We had lunch at Big Boy, there we made Todd proud, as one of the waitress told Todd what a polite bunch we were. He couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day.

As soon as we got to the Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club (CJRC) boathouse, we were introduced to another of Todd’s many associates and friends, Greg, whom Todd used to coach. I believe he was part of CJRC’s first ever crew, as Todd had founded the boat club. This became even more evident when we met the Cincinnati boys - their routine from weekly outings to the way a stroke is taken, is exactly the same as ours. So to conclude, Todd and Greg then, are in fact one of the same.

My first night at Cincinnati was long. After dinner at Skyline Chilli (which is unique to the city), my host John took me to his friend’s house who was hosting Will Dodson-Wells, where we were joined by Harry Lonergan and his host. We then went to White Castle, a fast food drive-through which Harry enjoyed massively. While we were there we saw some midnight snackers - these creatures were the size of two to three grown men!

Next morning we settled into a routine of light breakfast, rowing practice then lunch, followed by revision in the library. After a good session of hard work and several naps here and there, we went back to the boathouse for our last outing before the regatta on the following day.

The next day was a great day for the race, the wind was calm and the race course was wonderful. The results were mixed as the day went on. Our first eight came second by just a canvas to the Cincinnati V1 (Varsity 1). Both crews were practically 500 metres ahead of Upper Arlington V1 containing ‘The Incredible Hulk’ weighing at 19 stone! Our second eight came second to Cincinnati V2. The first four had beaten all girls eights of that day with open water, a great achievement considering how fast these super girls really were.

Easter Sunday morning, after a much-needed lie-in, Todd and Larry took us to a baseball match, where in all the excitement I might have been too comfortable in the American size chair. It was a good game, with a few homeruns. The following day we met up with Todd at the Cincinnati Rowing and Leisure centre which is on the other side of the river to the CJRC boathouse. Here we party Todd style; three times 6 kilometres A1s. This basically means an hour and a quarter of rowing on the ergometer with two decent sizes rests in between. After a shower we jumped on the mini buses and headed back east towards the state of Virginia.

Aue-Aut Angpanitcharoen

After saying our farewells to the Cincinnati kids, we embarked on our long journey back to Washington DC; stopping at the same familiar motel half way between Cininnati and DC. The motel was blessed with a pool that the rowers took to like ducks, and a divine hot tub.

On arrival at the river we were all very impressed by Gonzaga’s temporary boathouse, as the old one was having a bridge built on top of it. After adjusting to new boats once again, we came in and met our hosts from the school - Pete and I were billetted with Trey, a second 8 rower who was in the L6. We got to know him well on the car journey to his house, where we met his family. They were delightful people and made us feel at home like all the hosts did along our quest. In the evening I witnessed an epic soccer game between England and USA with Pete and Trey playing accordingly; to this day I am still uncertain of the true victor. The next few days were spent in Gonzaga’s school library working hard or out sightseeing the huge city, or doing that funny backward sport that I can’t quite remember the name of.

And on that note, it was time to return back home…

James Kynaston

The above two photos show the progress that has been made on the new boathouse - on 28th March, the  brickwork for the ground floor was almost complete, and the first floor was beginning to go up quickly; by 14th April, the first floor was almost complete, and the roof was starting to go on.

The 2012 Boat Race will go down in history as one of the more difficult meetings to umpire.  John Garrett (Rt 1976-81), pictured L, umpiring the race for the 3rd time, is unlikely to forget this particular race.  With the aid of the eagle eyes of Sir Matthew Pinsent John was forced to call a halt when a protestor was spotted in the water close to the Oxford boat. 

The race was eventually restarted at the halfway point and more controversy ensued following a clash of oars between the two crews, leaving Oxford with a broken oar.  Cambridge went on to win the race comfortably.  Afterwards John told the BBC “There was something in the water.  We thought it was debris, then we realised it was a swimmer.  It was clear he was waiting for the boats, so I had to stop the race." 

Another Old Salopian involved in this year’s race was Jonathan Legard (O 1974-79), a sports reporter, who shared the coverage with the BBC’s Dan Topolski (a former Oxford rowing coach).

For the first time ever Shrewsbury had three J15 Eights racing in the Schools' Head. 

After an immensely helpful guided tour of the course in a launch, courtesy of William Powell at Thames Rowing Club, the three coxes negotiated the difficult Tideway course with real expertise, and all three crews performed very well.  Particularly noteworthy, however, was the J15 A VIII.  Out of some 58 J15 crews in the race, our A crew came away with the Silver Medal, only St Paul's managing a faster time.  It was a stunning and gutsy performance from a crew who are showing more and more promise with every passing week, and bodes well for the regatta season.

MAJM

Near perfect conditions greeted our crews upon arrival at St Paul’s School, Hammersmith on Tuesday morning.

Hopes were high for our 1st, 2nd and 3rd 8’s after a good build up at Trent, Hammersmith and Chester Heads.

With the first 8 starting 3rd, we were hopeful of putting Eton to the sword after their average set of results recently. By half way our crew had caught up with the Eton boys, but were then unable to get by. This certainly did not help our cause in overcoming Abingdon and Hampton, both of whom we knew were fast boats. So for the 3rd year, 3rd place, certainly a disappointment for all - but how many other schools would love to be in that position!

The 2nd 8 were certainly hopeful of a much better performance than last year, and after a strong race we emerged 3rd also, again behind Abingdon and Hampton. For a young crew (4 J16’s) this is certainly a positive result and probably the right result behind two schools at the top of their game. To put this result into context they would have beaten 25 School 1st 8’s!

The 3rd 8 also came 3rd! This group of U6, L6, 5th and 4th formers had a good build up to the head and was great experience for the younger boys to row on the mighty Thames. They also beat 15 1st 8’s!

Crews

1st 8. S Lapage, R Chitty, H Lonergan, T Marshall, F Day, J Rand, M Kimpton-Smith, R Morgan. Cox S Walker.

2nd 8. C Clarke, C Lane-Fox, M Pattison-Appleton, D Beeston, P Gadsden, W Angell-James, R Homden, J Kynaston. Cox J Eardley

3rd 8. W Dodson-Wells, C Randall, R McCourt, C Rhodes-Bell, A Angpanitcharoen, H Rasmuss, U Capellen, T Lloyd. Cox L Koch de Gooreynd.

RESULTS

1st 8 3/41
2nd 8 3/19
3rd 8 3/4

Paul Manser

RSSBC's 1st and 2nd VIIIs had their last chance to hone their racing skills at the annual North of England Head, this was to be the third race in three weeks for these two crews.

As the crews raced down the straight with one thousand metres to go it was fairly obvious by the gap between our 1st VIII and the rest of the pack that this was going to be a good day for the boatclub. Defending their title from last year as fastest crew our boys (and Sophie!) came out on top once again. More significant was the margin: last year we sneaked victory by one second, whereas this year this increased to sixteen seconds over 2nd placed Durham University 2nd VIII, and the distance over King's School Chester was a massive 43 seconds.

Our 2nd VIII had an equally encouraging day, coming 2nd in their event, behind Durham University 3rd VIII. Again, they were pitting themselves against much older and physically stronger opponents. Our crew has most certainly picked up speed in the last few weeks and they will be totally focused on giving their best when they meet and race other school second VIIIs."

Overall, a very encouraging day.

We have a record 11 School crews entering next week's Schools' Head - the biggest event of our rowing calendar - on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th March. The J14 group race at Dorney Lake on Monday at 3.30. The Girls, J15, 1st, 2nd and 3rd VIIIs start on the Tideway at 2.15 on Tuesday 20th March. We wish them every success.

Paul Manser

Major progress at the river, with the framework for the new Boathouse now fully erected.  Brickwork has now started and everything is going to plan!

For those who know the building well, note that the old metal staircase has gone, and temporary steps have been installed at the other end of the building.

Our top 2 eights made the journey to the historic Tideway stretch of the Thames over the weekend, to compete in the Hammersmith Head on Sunday 6th March. Both crews and coxes made use of a paddle on the course during Saturday evening,but found that the conditions then were totally different to the full flowing river that they had to contend with on Sunday.

The Schools' Head, in two weeks' time, could be won or lost by the cox, so this practice on the course is invaluable. Both Sophie Walker and James Eardley will have gained precious experience as the Hammersmith Head course is run over the first part of the Schools' Head, from Mortlake to Hammersmith Bridge.

Heavy rain greeted our arrival at St Paul’s School, where we were boating (many thanks to them, for their hospitality as ever). This rain would continue right through the race, making the whole experience a bigger and fairly unpleasant challenge.

Abingdon School were racing too; as last year's Schools' Head winners, they were always going to be one of the top School boy crews. As the results would show, this proved to be the case and victory by one second was theirs. However disappointing this may have been, one third of a length over an eleven minute race is not much to make up - and we did win our event IM2 eights!

To put into perspective how fast the country’s top School boy eights are, our boys came sixth from around one hundred crews, beating the top men's eight from Star, who had beaten them by two seconds last week at Trent. They also lost to a huge men's eight from St Petersburg, Russia, by four seconds…

The 2nd eight again performed well - racing in a senior men's event they came ninth from thirty two starters, and were only beaten by School first eights. Schools' Head will be very interesting for this crew: having not raced any other School 2nd’s, we will relish that challenge!

This Head is not one that many Schools favour. Most Thames-based Schools will race at Kingston Head next weekend, whilst we will stay north and pit our wits against the northern heavy weights, Durham University and Agecroft, together with King's School Chester, who raced well at Reading Head recently.

We intend to keep the fine silver trophy that we won as Head winners last year.

RESULTS
1st 8 1/17 IM2 8 11.21
2nd 8 9/32 IM3 8 12.03

Paul Manser

The RSSBC Girls' Crew arrived in London on Friday afternoon in order to take their first paddle on the famous Boat Race course. A short paddle beyond Hammersmith Bridge allowed to them to get a feel for the tidal stretch of water, and the sheer scale. Undeterred, they challenged local club Pengwern to a few short pieces which saw the Novice school crew hold their own against a senior crew.  Job Done!

Race day meant an early start, but amid the chaos of other crews arriving and rigging, the Shrewsbury crew were able to sit and contemplate the next few hours.

The race went as well as we could possibly have hoped. Having overtaken two crews within the first 4 minutes of the race, the crew were sitting strong. They found their more familiar race pace slightly later than intended, but it was this that then allowed them then to challenge the next fleet of crews. A tussle with 4 other boats highlighted the tenacity of cox Amy Steventon, as they emerged 2nd. This placed the crew in a strong position to then push for the finish line.

The crew exceeded all expectations finishing 220th overall, and climbing 62 places. Within the Novice Academic category they finished 18th/39, and placed 33rd/64 across the overall Novice group.

Having raced at both Reading and the Women’s Head, the girls now turn their attention to improving on last year’s penultimate position when they compete against the country’s School Crews at the Schools’ Head on Tuesday 20th March.

CHLW

The girls had a fantastic day out at Reading, in what was their first race this term, and the first in the 8.

Reading University Head is a final testing venue ahead of the London Heads over the coming weeks, and so it attracts a national level of competition. This was to be a tough event for the crew, but one in which their focus was to 'race their own race'. However their preparation in the week leading up to the race was faultless.

Not in anyway slighted by the 5:30am start, the girls executed the perfect race establishing their race rythmn early on and responding well to the excellent coxing from Amy Steventon. The crew rowed in a 'vacuum' with little contact with other crews, allowing them to concentrate on their boat without distraction. They completed the course in a time of 18:20.14 and finished 4th/8, seeing off two university crews in the process.

The crew now turn their attention to the Womens' Head, London next Saturday where they will have the opportunity to further develop their race skills against no fewer than 50 other crews.

The Crew: Amy Steventon, Amy Stockdale, Libby Wood, Bridget Lapage, Katie Williams, Rainbow Satchatippavarn, Eliza Hodgson, Georgia Bustin, Liv Levy.

CHLW

Sunday was the start of the build up to the Schools’ Head on 20th March.

Our 1st and 2nd 8’s started their campaign of build-up races at the The Head of the Trent, in Nottingham on Sunday.

On a beautiful, still February morning our 1st boat had an excellent paddle over the 6K course, winning their event by 16 seconds over Nottingham University 1st 8.  They  also achieved a very creditable 2nd place overall, beaten only by a slick unit from Star Club, Bedford, by just 2 seconds - presumably the crew who reached the final of the Thames Cup at Henley in 2011.

The 2nd eight again had a good paddle, with 4 J16’s on board. They rowed effectively to finish third in their senior event, racing against adult club and university crews. A very creditable 3rd place from 20 starters sets them up well for a good result on the Tideway in a few weeks’ time.

Both crews head off to the Tideway and Hammersmith Head next Sunday, where they will be racing over the first part of the Schools’ Head course. This will be a great practice, not only for the crews, but even more importantly for the coxes.

PM

We wanted to give you a snapshot of how the RSSBC operates, how proud we are of our rowing heritage, but also what we are doing to train the next generation. The RSSBC is growing physically  (a new state-of-the-art boathouse and clubhouse, funded through the efforts of Foundation and Sabrina Club) and by number - more boys and girls are rowing than ever before.

 We hope you enjoy our video, made in partnership with our friends at Kukri Sports.

PG

Note to members of School staff: Clicking on the Play arrow below may not work if you are accessing the website from the School site (due to our proxy server settings).  You should be able to view it without any problems by following this link to the YouTube website.

On a day when other races around the country succumbed to the icy weather, Hampton Head remained on, and 18 third formers headed to London to brave the River Thames for the very first time.

Racing in two matched octuples named "Lennon" and "McCartney", all of the boys raced with great control and power. "Lennon" benefitted from its members spending more time on the water in the last few weeks, and came away with a fantastic silver medal, just 5 seconds behind King's Chester. A number of the rowers in "McCartney" share their time this term between rowing and other sports, so 11th place out of the 30 crews competing shows the potential that they have as oarsmen.The combined times of our two crews made Shrewsbury the fastest team on the water.

We will now begin the process of starting to construct A, B, C (and potentially D) octos for the National Junior Sculling Head in March on Dorney Lake (just 4 months before it plays host to the Olympic Games!).

The RSSBC have produced some wonderful Maltese Cross umbrellas, which are now on sale in our School Shop (see details below).  They are plain navy, with a white Maltese Cross on each quadrant, and a full colour Shrewsbury School Crest on a button on the handle.

The picture in the background of our umbrella poster is of the 1st V111 wining the final at Henley in 1980 beating Radley College by 2½ lengths (on a rainy day), coached by Nick Bevan and stroked by Mark Yale . Another member of the crew was John Garret who later competed in a number of Boat races and in the Olympic Games on three occasions.

Background to the Maltese Cross
The eight-point cross of the Knights Hospitallers became known as the Maltese Cross when  Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, gave the Knights Hospitallers the island of Malta in the 1550s, after they had been kicked out of Cyprus by the Ottoman Turks.

The eight points of the cross are said to symbolise the eight points of courage: Loyalty; Piety; Generosity; Bravery; Glory and honour; Contempt of death; Helpfulness towards the poor and the sick; Respect for the church.

The Maltese Cross is now used by a number of institutions and establishments, perhaps most notably in this country by St John Ambulance, and it is also on the crown of Shrewsbury School's crest.

In 1866 the Royal Shrewsbury School Boat Club (RSSBC) was founded as a club, run by the boys, for rowing at Shrewsbury. In the original constitution, it stated that the dress rule was, “a straw hat with a dark blue ribbon and a white jersey trimmed with dark blue with a blue Maltese Cross on the front of the jersey.”

Around the 1870’s when the newly formed football clubs were being established around England, many of the first uniform kits to appear were those of the Public Schools and sports clubs with which the game was originally associated. Blackburn Rovers first wore white jerseys adorned with the blue Maltese Cross of Shrewsbury School, as several of their founders had been educated here.

The Boat Club has continued to use the Maltese Cross and although the white lycra trimmed with dark blue with a blue Maltese Cross on the front is now the preserve of the 1st VIII only, the Maltese Cross itself is used in a variety of ways by the boat club.

The umbrellas are available to buy for £30 (+ £5 P&P) from the School Shop 01743 280868 / mhignett@shrewsbury.org.uk, or direct from  Paul Manser, Master in Charge of the Boat Club,  pmanser@shrewsbury.org.uk.

On the last day of the Michalmas term, a number of pupils volunteered (the lure of hot chocolate and mince pies may have helped!) to help strip all the boats from our old Victorian boathouse, in preparation for its demolition. 

The contractors were hoping to have the old boathouse demolished and off site before return to School. As can be seen from the photo (on the right) we are on track. As of yesterday there was another 20 centemetres of earth to remove, before a hardcore back is applied. New foundations will be next.... and the 'photo' below shows what it should end up looking like when it's finished.

If there are any other tearful Old Salopians who would like a couple of bricks for bookends, we have a limited supply!

Rowing continues despite the upheaval, and despite the recent heavy rains, the river is behaving at present.

Paul Manser

In the meantime, please see our 2011 news page.