Schools' Head of the River

On Thursday 23rd March three crews from the senior squads took on the Tideway course in London for Schools' Head of the River. 

It proved to be an eventful race - the crews pushed off from Barn Elms expecting to complete a 6.8km course, which looked rough and windy from our host boathouse located just before the final stretch through Putney. As they waited in the marshalling area crews were informed that, due to the conditions, the course would be curtailed to a comparatively short 1.7km between Chiswick Bridge and the Bandstand.

A rapid change in race plan followed, before crews set off into a headwind on choppy water with strong gusts blowing across the race course. Despite not knowing knowing the exact location of the finish line they were aiming for, the boys' coxed four came an impressive 2nd in a category of 14, achieving the highest placing of the day for Hinksey. The girls' coxed four finished 8th in a category of fourteen, and the girls' quad placed 23rd in a category of twenty-nine.

Junior 4+: Joe Elwig, Will Wakefield, Ewart Rees, Andrew Clark, coxed by Sam Farhan
Girls 4+: Vic Baird, Clarisse Astruc, Bonnie Coughlan, Alice Vine, coxed by Poppy Marshall
Girls Champ 4x: Emma Foster, Maryse Girgis, Hope Hawksworth-Pratten, Jess Foster

Unfortunately, despite having trained hard, the boys' coxless quad (Stanley Cannons, Rafe Stanford Meisl, Sam Carroll, Hugo Binnian/Will Sheel) had to be scratched the day before the race due to injuries.