18/11/06

Local Clubs’ Success in Fours Head

“First is first and second’s nowhere” is an axiom which sits well in most competitive sports but perhaps less well when the event includes some of the best crews in the world and junior novices, all rowing at timed intervals of roughly 10-seconds, one behind the other, over four and a quarter miles. Such was the case with the Fullers Tideway Head of the River Fours on Saturday 18th November.

More than 500 crews from all over the United Kingdom and Continental Europe descended on the Thames to race over the University Boat Race course in reverse, (from Mortlake to Putney), in quadruple sculls and coxed and coxless fours.

In near perfect conditions the event was won in the record time of 17 min 21 sec by a quadruple scull from Tideway Scullers School. Its all-star crew comprised the current world champion single sculler, New Zealander Mahe Drysdale, Olympic gold medallist Slovenian Iztok Cop, and GB internationals Alan Campbell (Diamond Sculls winner) and Mike Hennessy.

Among the crews behind them came a Cambridge University coxed four, (with four world champions aboard), a Leander coxless four missing only Andy Hodges from the Olympic gold medal and World Championships crew, the Olympic women’s GB quad rowing as London RC/Marlow RC, Oxford Brookes and Imperial College. It was against competition of this quality that local clubs Upper Thames RC and Henley RC did so well, with an Upper Thames quad coming 15th and a superb Henley RC Junior quad 21st.

In their own words the Upper Thames quad rowed out of their socks, pacing themselves over the first half of the course and then blasting the second half in the best row they have ever had, finishing in a time of 18 min 34 sec. The crew comprised: Adam Rennie (bow) Mark Shimmin, Will Hoodless and Dan Sadler (stroke).

In a remarkable time of 18 min 48 sec and only six places behind came a Henley RC Junior quad none of whom was more than 18 years old and all of whom had learned their rowing and sculling at Henley.