What a regatta to remember! We had two crews racing on Sunday, a day for Wallingford to be proud of. First up were the 4- in the Lester Trophy for Aspirational Club Coxless Fours. This crew has had a great season so far, winning or close to winning at all their regattas and heads, and a first proper club season for many of them.
We knew they’d be in with a chance in a very competitive field, and sure enough they waltzed through the time trial, beat Barnes Bridge Ladies in the first round on Saturday, and then Nottingham BC on Sunday morning by a tight margin. In the semi final they were up against a strong Upper Thames crew who had beaten them at Wallingford Regatta at the beginning of summer. Despite emptying the tanks and racing as well as they could, they lost by just under 5 seconds. They were very pleased with their performance, and hopefully this is just the start of a fantastic women’s squad over the next few years. Congratulations to Ruth Haigh, Lucy Walker, Sam Hammond, Emma Butler and coach Keith Settle.
In the West End Amateur Rowing Association Trophy for J16 Coxed Fours, our girls were also amongst the favourites. This was half the crew of the National Schools winning WJ16 8 (the other half were also due to race but had to withdraw due to illness.) They stormed the time trial, and were one of the seeded crews. They beat Aberdeen Schools in the quarter final on Saturday in the fastest time of the day, then beat Surbiton High School in the semi final on Sunday morning, again in the fastest time of the day.
Could they go one step further and beat Marlow, reigning National Schools champions in this event and multiple winners of the trophy in previous regattas, in the final? Oh yes they could! Never behind, they pushed on, relentlessly pulling inches away from their opposition every stroke to win by a length and 3/4. Amazing stuff, the first time Wallingford has won this trophy, and the first Junior win at HWR since 2012. Hats off to Elin Bahadori, Annie Collins, Lucy Mead, Tabby Gauden cox Katie Mellers and coaches Katie Greves and Andy Green.
Wallingford Rowing Club 