Firstly, our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the UTRC masters rower who sadly died following a suspected heart attack at this Head race. It is a tragic reminder that health and safety must be taken seriously at all times for rowers of all ages, during events and training.
The organisers decided not to cancel the race and we saw some great Wallingford performances. Top must be the win by 16 seconds in W4- by Sam Burrows, Ruth Haigh, Lucy Walker and Emma Butler. They beat a strong field of 10 crews, storming through to the finish in a superb line near the spectators on the bank. I think it made coach Keith Settles’s day!
It’s good to see our senior women regularly beating the local clubs and coming back with medals – they are definitely on an upwards curve, following a great training programme. Also winning were our WMasF 4x of Alice Brown, Julia Wilks, Jenny Taylor and Rachel Edge, our MasE 4- of Mike Edge, Dick Smith, Pete King and Steve Pearson, and our J15 4x+ of Rohan Clark, Ben Philipps, Fergus Caulfield, Harry Ireland and cox Orla McNulty who beat a very decent Marlow crew by just 6 seconds, and eight others.
Way to go Wallingford!
Wallingford Rowing Club 