Bulletin Board 2006 - 2007

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       The 2nd VIII had qualified for Henley the day before and arrived in good heart. After some good racing they won both the Senior 3 and the School/Junior events to set them up well for the following week.

       The second eight rowed well to qualify for the final of the senior 3 event where they were narrowly beaten into second place by a strong crew from Bath University. In the afternoon they qualified for the final of the School/Junior event but were unable to find the form needed to win.

       The J15B crew were keen to make an impact at the NSR, starting with the time-trial early on Saturday morning. A steady row saw them through to the semi-final, in which they would need to finish in the first three to progress. Despite a good start in their semi-final, they remained in an agonising fourth place all the way to the line. 

       The J15A crew also needed to finish third or better in their semi-final - a tall order with Latymer, Molesey, Kingston Grammar and Kings Chester all in the race with them and none of whom they had beaten before. Racing well, Kings Chester and Kingston were overhauled by the halfway mark and they clawed their way past Molesey with 500m to go to finish 2nd to Latymer. Despite producing an even quicker time in the final and overlapping the bronze medallists for much of the race, the J15As had to settle for 5th place - a fair result and real evidence of the progress they have earned during the year.

       Though we had hoped to take three octuples, in the end we could manage just two. The speed of the boats had been improving rapidly in the last two weeks and we were hopeful that we could be competitive, and so it proved. The 'B' boat raced very well to qualify through their heat and reach the semi-final. Here, they were just a bit off the pace and did not reach the final, but they represented themselves very impressively. The 'A' boat won its heat and then its semi-final, but in tight races, as one might expect over 'only' 1000 metres. The semi-final times of the six finalists were only two seconds apart and so another humdinger was forecast. Again this prediction proved accurate: a tremendously exciting race saw the boys always in contention and courageously holding their nerve to push into the medals, keeping Reading Blue Coat and Hampton at arm's length behind. The result was an excellent bronze medal behind Shiplake and St Paul's, both about half a length ahead. It was a great day of racing for all the boys in both boats.

       The J15 squad enjoyed the chance to race at home at the Shrewsbury Regatta, even though the weather was far from seasonal. On Saturday, racing over 1000m, the J15B crew raced in the Nov 8+ event where they were unlucky in the first round to meet an older Kings Chester crew with a number of their 1st and 2nd VIII oarsmen aboard. The J15A crew, racing in the same event did well to defeat Chester University and Pengwern BC before succumbing to the same Kings Chester crew in the final. In the J15 events, the final of the fours was between the bow four of the J15B crew and the J15C four who raced well but could not rewrite the form book. Both J15A and J15B eights faced their counterparts from Kings Chester in the finals of their respective competitions. Sadly, both crews lost but learned a great deal - a fortnight left to make improvements to their starts before the Nat Schools regatta. 

        On Sunday, racing over the 600m course, the J15As entered several senior events. They comfortably won the Nov 8+ event, defeating de Montfort University and Chester University. Racing in the S3 4+ event (a rather random substitution after actually entering the S4 8+ event!) the middle four were unlucky to meet the eventual winners in the first round. One of the last races of the day, in dim light and heavy rain, was the final of the S4 2- event. The two Shrewsbury pairs soared past the boat house side by side (and still in their own lanes!) but at the line it was Broadley and Mainwaring that made their extra practice outings count. A damp but successful day's pot-hunting, but lots to do before Nat Schools however... 

       The J14s enjoyed a good and very full day's racing with quads and octuples entered on the Saturday. We entered our top two quads in the 'A' event, of course, and one reached the final where it was beaten by a strong King's Chester outfit. The 'C' quad also performed very well, reaching the final of the quad league. The octuples competition was thrown into some disarray by the incompetence of another club. This included their causing a collision which halted a contest between our 'A' boat and King's Chester mid-race which had been shaping up into a great duel. The boys handled it all very well and made a lot of progress that day. 

       On the Sunday, there were wins in J14 'A' single sculls for John Landells (SH) and in J14 'B' doubles for Guy Vernon (M) and Peter Nightingale (O). Well done to them.

        On Sunday 6th May, the top squad raced at Wallingford Regatta which is held at Dorney Lake. The 1^st VIII entered S2 8+ in the morning division, J18A 8+ in the afternoon and the 2^nd VIII also entered S2 8+ in the morning and J18B 8+.

        The 2nd VIII finished sixth in their heat behind some good crews, unfortunately only the first two crews from each heat qualified for the final. They were, however only 3 seconds off finishing third. The 1st VIII won their heat by 0.42 seconds over Tideway Scullers and also beat Hampton School by 4 seconds. After the 500m mark in the final the 1st VIII found themselves lying in third; 3 seconds behind Tideway Scullers and 1 second behind Reading. During the next 500m, Shrewsbury rowed through Reading and came level with Tideway Scullers, both Shrewsbury and Tideway Scullers continued fighting with each other for the last minute and a half and in the end it came right down to the wire. Unfortunately, the photo-finish showed that Tideway Scullers had just won, their winning margin was 0.05 seconds. Although 1st VIII didn’t win, they will certainly be pleased to come so close to a crew of Tideway Scullers’ standard. Tideway Scullers were the losing crew in the final of the Thames Challenge Cup at Henley last year. 

         In the afternoon division, the 2nd VIII raced in J18B 8+. They had to finish in the top 3 to get to the final and they did this comfortably, but the final would be a much harder race with crews from Eton, King’s Chester and Abingdon also racing. Shrewsbury started well and after 1000m they were in third position but only 1 second off the leading crew from Eton. Unfortunately, Eton extended their lead to 3 seconds and won, Shrewsbury had just run out of time in this race which is shorter than most and they finished third. 

        The 1st VIII won their heat of the J18 A 8+ in the afternoon and therefore progressed to the final. The final included crews from Hampton, King’s Chester and St.Pauls among others. Again Shrewsbury were lying third after the first 500m, but this time behind Hampton and King’s Chester. Shrewsbury had rowed through King’s Chester by the 1000m mark and were level with Hampton. In the end the 1st VIII finished 3 seconds ahead of Hampton and 9 seconds ahead of King’s Chester. 

        Both crews rowed well throughout the day and the 1st VIII had a much deserved and encouraging win in J18 A 8+ after an agonizing loss of 0.05 seconds to Tideway Scullers, which in itself would be a very good result for any school crew. The next race is on home water at Shrewsbury Regatta.

Edition 10   16th May

        The J15 squad travelled to Birmingham to kick off their regatta season and test out their newly developed racing starts.  The J15A crew, racing in Senior Nov 8s in the morning, saw off Monkton Combe's senior crew in their first race but could not stay ahead of Cheltenham College's 1st 8 in the final (despite being well up with this rather tall crew at the halfway stage).  In the afternoon, racing this time in the J16 event, they comfortably beat the Kings Worcester J16s, followed by the Monkton Combe eight again.  However, their final race of the day was a real battle against Pangbourne's J16s, who were very hard pushed but clung on to a slender lead to win the J16 event by not much more than a canvas. 

         With the J15A crew racing in the age groups above, the responsibility for upholding honour in the J15 event fell to the J15B crew.  In the morning division, they raced well to defeat Kings Worcester and Bedford Modern's J15 eights - winning their event comfortably.  In the afternoon, the stern four raced in the J15 fours competition against the stronger half of the Kings Worcester crew.  At the end of their final, with both crews rating high and working hard, the Shrewsbury four slipped away in the final few metres and won their second tankard of the day.  All in all, a good day's work for the J15 squad who now look forward to the Shrewsbury Regatta - our home fixture.

         A good first regatta for the J14 squad. A fair breeze resulted in tricky conditions on the picturesque Edgbaston reservoir. Good racing, though, against some strong opposition, including Hampton and Cheltenham. There were good wins for John Landells in the single sculls and for the quad of Alex Anderson, Peter Nightingale, Josh Charlton-Briggs and Guy Vernon, coxed by James Lambie.

        On Sunday a Shrewsbury pair, Ed Whitehead (SH) and Patrick Lapage (R), were entered for the Great Britain small boats regatta. With the GB head coach insisting on their attending, they turned up on Sunday morning with the objective of top three, having not raced at any of the previous trials and hoping to spring a surprise on the established pecking order. The first race was a 1900m time trial, in which they were placed third behind the two composite pairs who had been top two throughout the season. Onto the semi final, in which they drew the pair which came second in the time trial. Ed and Patrick have a history of fluffing starts, however they managed to start without missing a stroke or crabbing and were pleasantly surprised to be second at 500 metres gone, and moved through to win by clear water without any pushes or a take it home. In the final they had a favourable middle lane, with the only two Junior Worlds returners from last year put together by the ARA, in the ARA Empacher, next to them. Again the start went well, and by 750 metres gone they had the lead. A push at 1100 metres gone gave them clear water, which may have jolted the ARA pair into action, and they came rushing back in the last 500 metres. Some claimed they actually had the lead snatched away from them with 100 metres left, but it was real bowball to bowball stuff. At the finish the pairs were almost exactly level, and neither of them knew which had won. However results soon filtered through, and officially Shrewsbury had won by 0.2secs, but according to the video taken it was even less, with barely a bowball in it.

        With no sweep-oared events for J15s supported by the ARA, the J15A squad experimented by entering the J16 VIIIs event at the WM Time Trial at Worcester. The competition was from the two rowing schools of Worcester - RGS and Kings. A solid row saw the J15A crew move steadily away from Kings' J16 VIII, and by the end of the 2.5km race it was hard to say if they had made any impression on the more powerful RGS J16 crew ahead. Sadly, they were timed just 3 seconds behind the RGS crew but earned themselves a silver medal for comfortably defeating the KSW J16s.

        Three J14 octuples went to the National Sculling Head. This was due to be held at Henley but a fast stream on the Thames meant that the event was relocated to Dorney Lake, Eton College's impressive international-standard rowing course, and venue for the world rowing championships last summer. The three boats all raced well over the 1900 metre race, with our 'A' boat just breaking into the top ten (against a number of schools who have been sculling for rather longer). The 'C' boat beat several 'B' and one 'A' crew (despite the official results not saying this - they are wrong!) Pride of place went on this occasion to the 'B' octuple who finished fifteenth and were the fastest 'B' crew. (They also managed to break a blade up at the start of the race, the valiant and energetic Mr Peach fetching them another...) It was a very enjoyable day, with all the boys helping out with the unloading and loading of the trailer in impressive style. There is much talent in this squad to sort out and much speed to be gained as we head into the regatta season, to which we very much look forward.

    Results available here.

    The Schools’ Head of the River was held on the Tideway in London on Thursday 15th March. Last year the 1^st VIII finished Head of the River, 26 seconds ahead of Abingdon and the 2^nd VIII also won their event in a new record time. So with the 1^st VIII starting first as Head of the River and the 2^nd VIII also starting first in their event, the pressure was on to hold off the chasing crews.

     The 1^st VIII had Abingdon starting behind them and although Abingdon have an extremely strong record at the Schools’ Head and are known for starting quickly, Shrewsbury held them off in the opening minutes of the race and after going through Barnes Railway Bridge Shrewsbury began to move away and open up more clear water. Shrewsbury kept their speed up between Barnes and Hammersmith Bridges, with the latter being used as a viewpoint by many Old Salopians, parents of Salopians and even some teachers. The 1^st VIII, now fuelled by the cheers of supporters finished the remaining minutes of the race powerfully and in style. The 1^st VIII were, for the second time in as many years, Head of the River and also equalled the course record. Radley finished 10 seconds behind in second place.

     The 2^nd VIII had the same job as the 1^st VIII, start first and finish first and they certainly did that but not content with only winning their event they smashed the course record for 2^nd VIII’s (which was set by last years Shrewsbury 2^nd VIII) by around 20 seconds. The 2^nd VIII started with Bedford Modern and Eton chasing them and they pulled away from Bedford Modern comfortably. Eton proved to be a much tougher test but Shrewsbury didn’t slow down and kept pushing and opened up slightly more clear water between themselves and Eton. The 2^nd VIII won their event by 3 seconds over Eton and their very quick time placed them sixth overall ahead of almost all the 1^st VIII’s.

     Top Squad also entered a coxed four which raced in J4+, which raced with tremendous determination and overtook no fewer than seven crews. The J4+ is an event which is strongly contested for by many major rowing schools and the Shrewsbury 4+ finished well clear of the fours entered by Pangbourne, St.Paul's and Bedford Modern among others. Although the four raced well and finished in a good time, they finished fourth behind 3 strong crews and were only one second away from the medal positions

     The J15 squad entered two eights for the Schools' Head and enjoyed the opportunity to paddle over the course on Wednesday afternoon. The final few outings before the race itself had been rather worryingly interrupted by a sequence of 'rigger failures' for the J15 A crew and our practice outing on the Tideway was sadly no different. Looking on the bright side, everyone got a good look at the famous Tideway landmarks as they limped slowly back from Putney to St Paul's School that afternoon.

      Race-day saw the J15 B crew head off first over the short course. Taking an excellent racing line from Hammersmith to Putney (well done Tom) they raced hard to finish in 7th place in their event. The J15 A crew paddled carefully off to the long course start line with rigger repaired (again) and slightly modified race-plan. After a cautious start (perhaps a little too cautious) they steadily increased the power throughout the race and finished powerfully as confidence returned. A respectable time of 18m39s put them 9th of the thirty J15 A crews - ahead of plenty of the big rowing schools and with the promise of more pace to come. Nonetheless the Schools' Head was proof of the progress they have made up the order since the equivalent event last year.

    Top Squad put out two VIIIs and a 4+. The 1st VIII rowed hard in Senior 2 to overtake a Hereford RC boat and pulled away from a distant UWE boat as they raced to catch up with the J18 crews that started some way ahead of them. Their winning time of 16minutes 14 seconds was not time enough to catch these other school crews, though they won the morning division with UWE only 2 seconds behind. The 2nd VIII put in a sterling performance and, despite a clash with St. Edward's as they pushed through the final bridge, managed to beat two Teddies VIIIs and finish in a time of 16.43 - a mere five seconds behind Hampton 1st VIII who unfortunately pipped them into second position of the J18 VIII event. The IV+ rowed the gruelling 'long course' with courage and looked strong as they passed the boathouse with just under 2K remaining. They charged to the finish but they're time of 18.49 was beaten into second position of the Senior 3 4+ event by a strong, unknown Stoke RA crew. Good experience for all crews as sights are set on the similar length Schools' Head of the River Race on Thursday 15th March.    

    The J15 squad have been making good progress in training and both A and B crews were keen to test themselves against the opposition, including Thames-based Abingdon School.  The J15A crew raced first, quickly catching one of the Abingdon eights.  Catching is always easier than overtaking and this time was no different. After being side-by-side for some distance, the J15A crew eventually pulled clear with 1000m to go and finished the course strongly in a time of 18:06.  The J15B crew rowed well and showed a great improvement over their last race, finishing in a time of 20:08 - significantly closer to the A crew than at Wycliffe.  As often happens in Head racing, the uneven intervals between crews at the start can disguise the final result until the official times are published.  It was not until we were halfway back to Shrewsbury on the coach that the official results were telephoned through - the J15A crew had won the event by 24 seconds.  A very pleasing and encouraging result with the Schools' Head just a few weeks away. 

    Two J14 octuples ventured out for their first real race, and possibly the longest race they will ever do in their rowing careers! The aim was to get an idea of what happens at a head race, prepare well and race hard - and this they did with great success, with both crews looking coherent and focused as they passed the crowds at the rowing club. The octuples had been selected as 'matched' boats and the selectors gave themselves a pat on the back when the 'Gavin' crew pipped the 'Aston' boat by just four seconds over the twenty-one minute course!

    On Saturday 3rd February, three Top Squad crews raced at the Wycliffe Head. The 1st and 2nd 8’s both raced for the first time this year, and a coxed four raced in S3.

    The day didn’t get off to a great start due to bad fog, but crews were told to boat  and row to the start where a decision would be made concerning the race. The organisers decided to make the course slightly shorter and make the gaps between crews at the start larger to prevent collisions. The 1st 8 were the third crew to start, behind King’s Chester and Radley College with Canford chasing them. Around the halfway mark, the 1st 8 began to row through Radley and after a hard fight they opened up clear water and began to move ahead. The 1st 8 came out of their race on top; the winning margin was 22 seconds. King’s Chester finished second and Radley third. 

    The next crew to race was the 2nd 8 who had a very hard race against a mixed 8 from King’s Chester. Although they had a good race and had a fast time for a 2nd 8, they finished second, only eight seconds behind the winners. 

    The coxed four finished 3rd in their event, in a respectable time only 10 seconds behind the winners. Both the 1st and 2nd 8’s beat the course records in their events but unfortunately, due to the finish being moved slightly earlier, these times were not recognised as new course records.

    Two J 15 eights went to Wycliffe to build up some racing experience. Freezing fog had delayed the start significantly and both crews were glad to get racing after a very dull and very cold wait in the marshalling area. The J15 A crew set off well and quickly overhauled the crew in front from King's Worcester. Once clear of them the chase to catch King's Chester began. Despite a tiring slog through the middle third of the race, during which they caught up with senior 2nd 8s from Cheltenham College and St. Edward's, the strong King's Chester crew had escaped and won the event in a fast time.  Nonetheless, the J15 A's time of 16:22 was a very encouraging one on a par with last year's J15s and ahead of many J16 and 2nd 8s. Continuing to close the gap to our local rivals is the clear target for the next few weeks.

    After an eventful paddle down to the start featuring temporarily misplaced oars and a leaking boat, J15 B 8 began their race steadily with the correct number of oars and not too much ballast water in their boat.  They chased King's Worcester J15A crew hard but finished the course without managing to close the gap.  Another useful race for the J15 B crew and many lessons learned!

    On Fr

iday 17th November, three coxed fours selected from Top Squad travelled to London ready to race in the Fours Head which is held on the tideway and on the same course as that of the School’s Head and the Boat Race. After spending the night in Henley thanks to the generosity of the Buys family and friends, everyone was ready to race. Two fours were entered in Senior 2 and the other in Senior 3 (A). The fastest Shrewsbury boat finished fifth in Senior 2 in a fast time; only one second behind Eton’s first four. The next Shrewsbury boat in were twelve seconds slower and finished second in Senior 3 (A) only losing to Eton’s top four, but beating Eton’s second four comfortably. The third Shrewsbury crew finished seventeenth in Senior 2 and in a fast time when compared to the other school crews racing. Overall, Shrewsbury had very encouraging results, with very competitive times compared to other school crews. Shrewsbury crews were as follows: 
RSSBC I: de Lisle, Lapage, Duncan, Hanmer, Putnam 
RSSBC II: Turner, Davenport, Davies, Tenison-Collins, Whitehead 
RSSBC III: Lawley, Rae, Thornycroft, Taylor, Aylwin

    Shr

ewsbury travelled to Manchester to race at the Salford Quays in the Agecroft small boats head. Eight coxed fours; all selected from Top Squad raced. Two fours raced in Senior 2, two in Senior 3, one in Senior 4, one in Novice and two others in J16. The Senior 2 and 3 fours raced in the second division of the day. The Senior 2 fours were drawn against two fast Agecroft fours, one of these Agecroft fours won the Senior 2 event with Shrewsbury only 3 seconds behind them, and our next crew was 20 seconds behind in third but still beat the second Agecroft four by 23 seconds. The Senior 3 crews also raced well but finished second and third in their event behind the winners Agecroft, they did however beat five other crews which included some university boats. In the third division, the Novice four from Shrewsbury won in a dead heat with Manchester University and the Senior 4 crew finished second in their event in a good time slightly slower than the Novice crew. The J16 fours finished first and second in their event, again both crews finished in good times.
    The inclusion of Novice 8s at Agecroft this year made it possible for the J15 group to compete in their first race this year. Despite the large squad this year, a number of commitment clashes meant that both crews were new line-ups including a large number of boys who have only begun rowing this term. The 'scratch' J15A crew finished the course without mishap and their time of 11 minutes was easily enough to win the event and only a few seconds behind top squad's 2nd 4+. The J15 'B/C' crew raced hard but had to make a number of unplanned stops for 'bladework malfunctions'.  Nonetheless, they finished the course with a hearty sprint and were surprised to learn that they were only a minute or so behind the other Shrewsbury crew, and 30 seconds ahead of their counterparts from Kings Chester. All in all, a successful and educational first race for the J15 squad.

    Six Shrewsbury crews (all coxed fours) travelled to Worcester to begin this season’s racing. The season got off to a great start, with four wins from the five events which Shrewsbury entered. The morning division saw two of the four wins, these came in Senior 1 and Senior 3 coxed fours. The Senior 1 boat won their event over Worcester RC by twenty seconds, in a time of 13:07.66 which was the fastest time in the whole division (faster than a senior 2 coxless four and numerous quads). 

    The next Shrewsbury crew down the course was the senior 3 boat who won by eight seconds over RGS Worcester and three other crews. They also got a fast time which was just outside the top ten fastest in the division. The last Shrewsbury crew to race in the morning was the Junior 16 coxed four, who finished second in their event, seventeen seconds behind the winners, so they will be working hard to show what they can do at Agecroft Head in a week’s time. 

    The afternoon brought two more wins for Shrewsbury, this time in senior 2 coxed fours and senior 4 coxed fours. The senior 2 coxed four won their event by thirty seconds over Stourport BC and two other crews. They completed the course in 13:33.87, which was the second fastest time in the afternoon beaten only by an elite coxless four. 

    Two Shrewsbury fours raced in senior 4 coxed fours and they finished first and third in the senior 4 event, beating RGS Worcester and Birmingham University. Both crews had good times and finished well inside the top ten fastest of their division. The Shrewsbury crews were; 

Senior 1 : Richard Putnam, Sean Duncan, Patrick Lapage, Tom Hanmer and Nick de Lisle. 

Senior 2 : Patrick Lapage, James Davenport, Patrick Thornycroft, Hugh Williams and Daniel Turner. 

Senior 3 : Tom Banks, Joe Bennett, Tom Davis, James Broadley and Daniel Turner 

Senior 4 : Patrick Aylwin, Angus Tenison-Collins, John Jackson-Houlston, Sam Goodbody and Chayawin Sriprasert. 

Senior 4 : Chris Menschofer, Tim Fullwood, George Rae, Harry Davies and Sam Lawley. 

Junior 16 : Charlie Owen, Michael Houston, James Warren, Adam Cartwright and Sam Lawley.