Tideway racing 2022
SEHBC sent a crew to Head of the River Race (HoRR) and a crew to Women’s Head of the River Race (WEHoRR) to gain important external racing experience, and experience of racing on the Tideway. Both crews learnt a huge amount, and had a lot of fun at both events!
Head of the River Race (HoRR)
Cox - Marie-Claire Jalaguier
Stroke - Thomas Harray
7 - William Gasson
6 - Adam Pattenden
5 - Will Loosley
4 - Jake Liebers (St Benet’s Hall)
3 - Aksel Saukko-Paavola
2 - Toby Whitehead
Bow - Red Coleman
SEHBC sent a crew of M1 and a couple of alumni subs to HoRR over the Easter Holidays. The day started by arriving at Mortlake Anglican & Alpha Boat Club and rigging the boats ready to push off. Unfortunately, when we turned the boat over to rig it, it had a hole in the shell. With our boatman Jim off on a cycle, we had some quick thinking that led us to taping over it for the race. We didn’t have to do too much rowing to the start which was great, and so after waiting around for a little bit we headed to the start. A strong rolling start set us up to a good pace, with great conditions for the Tideway. At the island we successfully overtook a crew ahead of us, and continued to push towards the finish. We finished with a time of 21:07.1. After finishing, we had a long row all the way back to the start, where we boated from. Once we reached Mortlake again, some members of the club invited us inside for a pint to wind down after a strong race! We then derigged the boats and headed back to Oxford.
Women’s Head of the River Race (WEHoRR)
Cox - Toby Whitehead
Stroke - Jess Radley
7 - Rosie Munday
6 - Maddie Prottey
5 - Katie Mellor
4 - Emily Falconer
3 - Natalie Shteiman
2 - India Brough
Bow - Erika Dutton
SEHBC sent a W1/W2 composite to WEHoRR to develop our skills in different racing conditions. The day started with some quick decision making, as one of our rowers tested positive for Covid. Erika stepped in at the last moment, saving the crew from needing to find a last minute sub in London! After the stress of the morning, we arrived at Furnivall Sculling Club to rig the boat and boat for our race. After quickly rigging the boat, we pushed off and tapped slowly up to the start. It took around 2 hours of patiently waiting with snacks and water until we finally got to the start. After a successful rolling start, we continued off and had a smooth row, overtaking the crew ahead of us. The smooth conditions took us to Hammersmith Bridge, where the waters quickly turned tidal and it became a fight to survive… The crew we had originally overtaken dealt with the conditions much better than us, and whilst attempting to overtake us, clashed blades with us meaning that we had to momentarily stop rowing while our cox tried to steer away. After losing precious minutes during our race, we got back on track and the conditions improved slightly up until the finish. We finished with a modest time of 24:48.2. After a slow row back to Furnivall, we derigged the boat and headed back to Oxford with some Tideway rowing under our belts.
India Brough (President 2021/22)