New Appointments in Royal Shrewsbury School Boat Club

We are delighted to share a number of exciting developments in our Boat Club ahead of the new academic year.

Mr Robbie Williams has been appointed as Director of Rowing from September 2026, supported by Mr Findlay Ralley in the newly created role of Assistant Director of Rowing. Further announcements will follow in due course as additional appointments within the Boat Club are confirmed.

Mr Williams is well known to our community, having joined Shrewsbury in 2024 from his native Australia, where he built a distinguished coaching career across school and high‑performance environments. A former dual World Champion in the Coxed Four (U19 & U23), he has led successful programmes at both The Scots College and The King’s School, Sydney, guiding multiple crews to national medals, GPS Head of the River victories and strong Henley Royal Regatta appearances. He will continue to serve as Housemaster of Ingram’s Hall next year, allowing him to bring a fully integrated approach to the Boat Club.

Mr Ralley has been Senior Girls’ Lead Coach since 2023 and has helped drive significant progress within the girls’ programme, including Championship medals at the National Schools’ Regatta and strong performances at Henley Women’s and Henley Royal Regatta. A former Scottish international with notable Henley success, he brings both competitive pedigree and coaching experience from university programmes and Kew House School, where he helped secure their first ever Henley qualification.

Mr Williams and Mr Ralley bring a powerful blend of pastoral leadership, technical expertise and high‑performance experience that will shape the next chapter of the Boat Club. Their shared commitment to developing young athletes and coaches, fostering enjoyment, resilience and excellence, and building environments in which individuals and crews can thrive places the programme in exceptionally strong hands. The year ahead promises to be an exciting one for the further development of rowing at Shrewsbury.

As we look ahead to this next chapter, we also acknowledge the passion and commitment with which Mr Athol Hundermark has led the Boat Club since 2012. He will be returning to his native South Africa this summer.