CHAIRMAN’S VIEW

Well, another HRR done and dusted and what a cracker it was! I don’t know when LRC last had three finalists, maybe our archivists Julian and Jeremy or older members can advise but it must be several decades. To come away with two out of three was a huge achievement and reflects the commitment of the whole squad, ably managed and coached by our fabulous team of Stu, Killian and the volunteers. Heartfelt thanks go to all for their professionalism and dedication.

It was really pleasing to be approached by many people over the course of the regatta who said that LRC crews were looking very impressive. The Wyfold gave us a scare again on Sunday, but I knew it must be equipment failure having seen Edo steer the perfect course two years earlier. Well done to them for informing the umpire of the potential problem before the start. The Thames Cup eight were superlative, overpowering TRC and equalling the 6.06 record set by IC in 1996 (I remember that quite well BTW). On the Wednesday they broke the Fawley record in a time of 2.55, 3 seconds lower than the 2.58 set by Nottinghamshire County Rowing Association in 1993. And what a great effort by the Brit four who pegged Thames back to half a length but didn’t quite have the gas to overhaul them. Next year! The Wargrave had some illness challenges, but they produced a valiant effort on Saturday against Leander. We’re lucky to have such great depth that we can call on strong subs and the women’s squad goes from strength to strength. As I write emails are coming in from LRC members and I include a couple below.

Other June highlights were Henley Women’s Regatta where we were just pipped by one second by TRC in the club eights and Marlow where we secured champ eights. The Masters won the Victor Ludorum at Brit Masters for the second year running after some kerfuffle with the organisers giving it to Kingston before they counted the points correctly. That win involves prize money, always very welcome!

Coming up we have the club BBQ on 13 July so please don your blazers and be ready to celebrate the season. The AGM will be the following week at 12.15 on Sunday 20 July where we will elect the offices of Chairman, Captain and Membership Director. Please do attend if possible (blazers encouraged) to hear reports on your club, participate in the elections and enjoy a drink or two afterwards.

Wishing all those competitive athletes a well-earned break over the summer but please do remember the Great London Row on 6 and 7 September when we will raise funds for our essential capital projects.

Some messages from members:

Mark Watkin, former LRC Captain and Wyfold winner 2004:

“Congratulations on the fantastic results this week. I’m so happy for all involved, in particular the athletes and coaches. But of course the entire club and everyone associated.

I watched throughout the Regatta from Melbourne and it was a magical week.

Thoroughly impressed with the technical skills of the crews and some sensational times.

The Wyfold boys were very composed in the difficult situation with the rudder / fin. The second row spoke for itself. I enjoyed the footage and cox audio edit too - emotional stuff.

It definitely brought back sweet memories of our 2004 year.

It really looks like you have a special culture at the club with strength and depth across both women’s and men’s squads. Huge kudos for this. I’m excited to see next year. There will be fuel from the wins, finals and weekend appearances this year that will power next year. Together with new recruits.”

Nick Howe, 1979 World Lightweight Champion, Henley Winner & Olympic Coach:

“Firstly I would like to congratulate every single athlete, coach and back room girls and boys for all their tremendous efforts in presenting and representing LRC at this year's Regatta, truly our Club is back where it belongs as a true force to be reckoned with.

It was a shame the Wargrave crew came up against a strong Leander crew but they still put in a great performance.

Two out of three wins in the finals on Sunday was just outstanding. The Thames were just too strong for the Brit crew.

The Wyfold crew showed great composure in having to have two stabs at the race and smashed Sydney in the re row.

As for the Thames Cup crew they rowed from the very first stroke to win and they did in style.

Well done LRC.”

Bill Baker
Chairman, London Rowing Club

CLUB SUMMER BBQ - 13 JULY

This year has been wildly successful, with wins at various major UK regattas, the masters securing back-to-back Victor Ludorum wins at Brit Rowing Masters Champs, and last but by no means least two wins at Henley.

To celebrate we are hosting a Club Summer BBQ - there will be burgers, bangers, and salads and veggie options along with strawberries and cream!

Date: Sunday 13th July

Time 1:00pm

Dress Code: Members are advised that wearing club blazers would be preferred, as we might be able to get British Rowing to present the BR Masters Victor Ludorum award at the occasion (missing out on this at Nottingham).

Alongside the BBQ, the Men's singles Wimbledon Final will be shown.

The deadline for pre-booking via MyClubhouse for the BBQ (no drink included) has now passed but members who have not signed up are welcome to come and pay on arrival. The cost is also £12.50 for the BBQ (no drink included), subject to availability.

Bill Baker
Chairman, London Rowing Club

CAPTAIN’S REPORT

It is hard to put into words just how the events of the last week have felt for us all. Athletes from across the club have delivered an exceptional array of results across multiple events, including Marlow Regatta, Henley Women’s Regatta, British Masters and, of course, Henley Royal.

First up at British Masters, LRC went on once against to win the Victor Ludorum at Nottingham, taking part in a huge 34 races across both todays in defending this title. This is another fantastic result for our masters rowers at LRC. A huge thanks to James Sexton-Barrow, Jason Bowyer, Saskia Gill, Eddie Marks and Kathleen Curran for getting LRC geared up and organised for the racing. A truly great team effort with excellent results.

Following this, at Henley Women’s Regatta, LRC had a tremendous year and demonstrated further the growing power and strength of our women's squad. This culminated in a well contested final for the Copas Cup Aspirational 8+ with London ‘A’ losing by only a ¼ length against local rival Thames. The overall results were as follows:

- Aspirational Club 8+ ‘A’ - Finalist
- Aspirational Club 4- ‘A’ - Semi Finals
- Aspirational Club 8+ ‘B’ - Quarter Finals
- Championship 8+ - Heats
- Aspirational Club 4- ‘B’ - Time Trial

Meanwhile, whilst the women battled down the Henley course, the men’s squad took to Dorney for the last time this season for Marlow Regatta. LRC came out on top in the final with London ‘A’ winning over a strong Oxford Brookes crew. Another podium place went to the LRC composite with Lea RC. The overall results were as follows:

- Championship 8+ ‘A’ - First place overall
- Championship 2x - Second place overall
- Championship 8+ ‘B’ - 4th in C Final
- Championship 4- ‘A’ - 6th in A Final
- Championship 4- ‘B’ - 7th in B Final
- Championship 4+ - 6th in A Final
- Club Tier 2 8+ - 2nd in J Final

These immense results for the squad led us swiftly into the biggest race of the year once again. Having entered 78 athletes into Henley Royal Regatta, over which 58 qualified, LRC went on to have a historic set of racing success throughout the week. We had a number of crews selected in the draw - Thames 'A' & ‘B’, Wyfold 'A', Wargrave ‘A’ and the Britannia.

Wyfold ‘B’ made it swiftly through qualifiers and, for the first time ever, LRC had three eights racing in the Wargrave Challenge Cup, after ‘B’ and ‘C’ progressed smoothly through qualifiers.

All crews scheduled to race on Tuesday and Wednesday moved swiftly through to their next rounds, with the exception of Wargrave ‘C’ on Tuesday and Wargrave ‘B’ and Wyfold ‘B’ on Wednesday, all of which raced very well against tough opposition in their races.

Thursday saw a quieter day of racing with Wyfold ‘A’ and our Brittania crew both racing through to their semi finals on Saturday. Thereafter, our Thames ‘A’ and ‘B’ and Wargrave ‘A’ crews raced hard and well on Friday, with Thames ‘A’ and Wargrave ‘A’ securing spots in the semi finals on Saturday whilst Thames ‘B’ fought a tough race but unfortunately bowed out against last years finalists K.A.R.Z.V. ‘De Hoop’, NED.

Saturday was a momentous day in itself, with LRC having a spot in the semi finals across all club events. Thames ‘A’ and Britannia both faced Henley locals Leander and both won by 1 and ¾ lengths to them, securing their spots in Sunday finals. The Wyfold ‘A’ faced off Putney rivals Thames and came away winning by a final verdict of ½ length. Our Wargrave ‘A’ also faced Leander on Saturday and put in a roaring and valiant effort which the crew can be hugely proud of.

Onto Sunday. The first showdown was between Wyfold ‘A’ and Sydney. The race took a dramatic turn, as many will no doubt know, when damage to the rudder on our crews’ boat led to a clash with the Aussie men, resulting in a re-row later in the afternoon. Next up, our Thames ‘A’ crew faced Thames RC. Having already smashed the record to Fawley earlier in the week by 3 seconds, our crew put in an exceptional race, and came away with first place by ¾ length – the first time LRC has won the Thames Challenge Cup since 2006. The re-row of the Wyfold Challenge Cup then also saw our men, heads cool and calm following their earlier clash, dispatch Sydney by a final verdict of 3 and ½ lengths. Finally, our Britannia Challenge Cup crew faced a strong crew from our local Putney neighbours, putting in an excellent row but sadly losing out by only 1 length.

The Sunday results are something to behold for our club and mark a significant moment in our history. Our victory in the Thames marked exactly 150 years since LRC first won this event back in 1875 and our Wyfold victory counts as LRC’s 25th win in this event (including one year when, under regatta rules, our crew rowed under Argonaut colours in 1856). The double win in the Thames and Wyfold is also a direct repeat of our results back in 2004.

I cannot commend enough everyone's efforts to achieve these results across the club. To our athletes – your tenacity, strength and resilience is testament to your successes this season and shows all the laborious hours of training on and off the water, combined with your dedication the sport, deliver the highest accolades in results.

To our coaches – your guidance, support, leadership and devotion to the club have built the squad to where it is, and where it will continue to go. You have done an exceptional job well done.

To all our committee, subcommittee, volunteers and members supporting on the banks of Putney throughout the year, at Dorney and at Henley, the squad, coaches and club cannot do it without you.

I thank you all for your efforts and support to each other and the club. It has made me one very proud captain.

Bang the Drum!

Well done LRC.

Rob Porter
Captain, London Rowing Club

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

See more detail for these events, visit our Calendar of Events…

WOMEN’S MASTERS REPORT

As the summer regatta season continues, our Women’s Masters squad is turning its focus to Henley Masters, buoyed by an excellent showing at British Masters (reports below). With the Tideway unusually peaceful while many clubs were away preparing and racing at HRR, the group has been making the most of the calm conditions for fine-tuning their speed and timing.

Here’s a sneak peek at the crews lining up for Henley Masters:

WC4-: Amy Johnson, Zoe Tipler, Marianna Raffaella, and Elizabeth Hichens.

WB8+: Emily Walters, Saskia Gill, Annabel Headley, Kirstyn Luton, Caroline Newbury, Uli Forster, Alex Hammerberg, and Elinor George.

We’re also excited to be joining forces with our neighbours from Crabtree for the Mixed B8+ on Sunday. Fred Gill, Ant Lester and Florian Herbst from Crabtree will join James Lindsay-Finn, Emily Walters, Annabel Headley, Kirstyn Luton, and Saskia Gill from LRC to form the Mixed B8+ crew.

The energy in the group is high, and with strong lineups and solid preparation, we’re looking forward to taking on the Henley stretch!

Women's British Masters Report – 2025 (by Amy Johnson & Alex Hammerberg)

Women’s Masters B 4+
The much-maligned coxed four (also known as “ugh, this is so heavy” and “[indistinguishable groaning]”) requires grit, determination, and power, but also, as it turns out, a coxswain. As coxes are thin on the ground around the LRC Masters contingent, the intrepid 4+ lineup (bow – Zoe Tipler, 2 – Marianna Raffaele, 3 – Amy Johnson, stroke – Alexandra Hammerberg) were only able to wrangle two outings with the full weight of their potential ahead of the big day. Undeterred, the crew made do with thinking heavy thoughts during their coxless outings and forcing a strokesider to row bowside. With two weeks to go before the race and still no coxswain in their line-up, the crew turned a bit desperate. Suggestions were thrown around, including, at one point, an idea of asking LRC British Masters’ illustrious leader, James Sexton-Barrow (“JSB”), to repeat his coxing performance from last year’s Brit Masters, but this time from the confines of a bowloader. While the crew had full confidence in this plan, at last the rowing heavens opened and their savior, Connie Schuette, appeared to relieve JSB from his debut in the carbon fiber capsule. With their lineup complete and stroke back from her pre-regatta holiday, the crew arrived in Nottingham. A fresh pint at Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem (reportedly serving pints from the castle walls since 1189) the evening before meant the 4+ was fueled and raring to go for a 9:24am boating time. With a keen desire for hardware and only gold on offer for the duel with Aberdeen, they knew there were only two outcomes of their mission – prevail or be forced to invade Scotland in retribution. Thrilled to have no time handicap on the start line, the crew went off at a cracking pace in a draw-half-half-three quarters for five, lengthen (somehow known as “wind” in the Tideway parlance, very confusing)-full start sequence. Settling into a strong 34 strokes per minute they flew down the course, their competitors barely retaining contact. Then 500 meters struck and with it a sense that maybe those heavy thoughts hadn’t fully prepared their legs for the essential + in the 4. The rate dropped to 32 and the Aberdeen crew smelled blood, putting on a push at 750 meters that brought them back to only a half-length down and gaining. But with a rousing cry from Connie, they put feet down on the gas, powering through the line to finish ahead by a third of a length. Victory! Back at the trailer, LRC spectators reported that their nerves couldn’t handle such excitement so early in the morning and to please wait until after the second coffee next time the crew decided to put on such a nail-biter of a performance.

From left to right (Marianna, Zoe, Alex, Amy & Connie).

Women’s Masters B 4-
The women's coxless B four powered down the windy course in Nottingham in a fierce side-by-side showdown on Sunday afternoon. Racing in the B4- category, the crew held strong through the first 500 meters, matching their rivals stroke for stroke. As the boats surged past the halfway mark, London slipped into second position, battling hard to reel back the leaders and against the wind. Despite a last push in the final 250, they crossed the line just a few seats behind, securing a solid second place in a tightly contested field. An amazing performance that showed strength and secured another silver medal for LRC.

From stern to bow (Caroline Newbury, Emily Davenport, Meg Cliff and Uli Forster)

Women’s Masters B 8+
The old adage “practice is cheating” is a common phrase bandied about in masters rowing (especially around the bar). The Masters ladies don’t often turn up to racing having never been in their lineup, but with ridiculous things like work and real life encroaching on rowing over the spring, the Women’s Masters B 8+ (Zoe Tipler, Marianna Raffaele, Amy Johnson, Alexandra Hammerberg, Uli Forster, Meg Cliff, Emily Davenport, Caroline Newbury, cox: Julie Hogg) found themselves in an 8+ for the first time since Head season, in an untested lineup. In masters rowing youth is always a disadvantage, and the B crew found themselves lumped in with three Women’s C 8+ crews – Avon, Nottingham, and the expanded forces from the morning’s 4+ foes, Aberdeen – and a subsequent handicap of 5 seconds. Unphased, they trotted through a brisk warm up sequence with feet out and even managed to squeeze in a few practice starts before they were called to the stakeboats. Starting behind, but determined to win even with the handicap, the crew set off at a blistering rate, walking through Nottingham and Avon to grab hold of Aberdeen’s stern and start moving through. With 250 meters to go and barely a seat down on the Scots, the London crew put on a press, which was answered by Aberdeen, even as the London boat gained. Alas the finish line came too soon and Aberdeen kept their bow ahead, crossing the line barely 1.7 seconds before LRC. Silver may not be as pretty as gold, but luckily next year we’ll all be older.

Mixed Masters B 8+
Scheduled late in the afternoon on Sunday, everyone in the London Mixed Masters B 8+ (cox: Connie Schuette, Rob Williams, Graham Sisson, Alexandra Hammerberg, Amy Johnson, Tom Fitzpatrick, Brandon Taft, Marianna Raffaele, Elizabeth Hitchens) had raced at least once already in the day, so the unofficial crew consensus was to enjoy the sunshine and pursue what the youths are calling “vibes rowing”. The crew also knew that, as a combined Masters B / D event, with two D boats to their fresh-faced B, they would be time handicapped. Nevertheless, they set off in good spirits, ready to put down serious firepower to make up the expected handicap of 8-10 seconds. With a few side eyes thrown to their suspiciously young-looking competitors from Walbrook and the composite Molesey/Kingston/Quintin crew, and a few mutters down the boat about needing to improve their skincare routines, the London crew paddled to the stakeboat. Then, the announcement: “This is a combined, handicapped event. Molesey and Walbrook, as mixed masters D, you will start first. London, as mixed masters B, you will start 14 seconds behind.” Shock through the crew, squeaks of “fourteen seconds! FOURTEEN seconds? Across 1000 meters?”, but they rallied themselves. The starting pistol went off, and the seemingly interminable countdown began. Needless to say, while they raced well, the London crew could not make up those 14 seconds, and there was no hardware awarded for third out of three. But it turned out that London had the last laugh. While the Molesey/Kingston/Quintin boat took home gold, worth 32 points towards the coveted Victor Ludorum, composite boats receive no points at all. And, well, the rest can be read elsewhere.

Saskia Gill

YOUNG IRREGULARS REPORT

June has been a great month of rowing with the beautiful weather and super light evenings allowing the Young Irregulars to make the most of their Wednesday evening sessions in what could be considered the 'Golden Hour' of the day.

Turnout for both the Wednesday PM and Saturday AM sessions continues to be very strong with us regularly getting a mix of doubles and a quad alongside on the Wednesday and several quads rowing on Saturdays.

Pictured above (stroke to bow): Kathryn and Rachel.

Since the last Young Irregulars Report there has been quite a lot happening with multiple events happening across the Club and numerous different races happening.

We start with the naming of one of the Women's Squads newest boats. In the middle of May, the group had the pleasure of attending the naming of the Kathleen Curran, named after our very own group organiser. The day was a glorious day for a naming with the sun shining and not a cloud in sight. It was a great day of celebration for everything Kathleen has done and continues to do for the Club.

Later in the month came Club Pride day when quite a few of the Young Irregulars joined other non-squad members from across the Club to focus on cleaning clubhouse from the boat bays all the way up to the gutters in the resis roof! It was with the latter where we discovered our very own Camille's love for heights, fearlessly climbing ladders and walking around on roofs to get to hard-to-reach areas! Who'd have known!

The Young Irregulars have also been participating in some racing this summer, being a part of the British Masters regatta where the Club managed to retain the Victor Ludorum title again (even though it took 24 hours for British Rowing to figure this out). The group had a number of crews racing throughout the regatta with a few Young Irregular boats competing well.

Our Mixed 4x competed very well on the Sunday in a tough field, narrowly taking 2nd place by less than half a second driven by a strong surge in the last 400 meters and taking the silver from John O'Gaunt RC. The winning crew from Medway Town won by just 2 lengths which is a great result for our Quad given the quality of rowers in that boat (so we've been told!).

Our Mixed 2x also competed on the Sunday in one of the last races of the day and unfortunately didn't get the result they wanted. The weather had started to turn at this point, with a strong headwind down the course, but the crew rowed very well right through to the end to take 5th place.

Pictured above (left to right): Lawrence and Camille.

Finally, we have a number of congratulations for members of the group who have had significant life events in recent weeks and months! Huge congratulations to Rachel Evans on her recent engagement and to Colette Lipp and Isabel Palmer on their recent weddings to their partners.

Tom Downes

IRREGULARS REPORT

It is two months since I last reported and what a busy, eventful and hugely fun time has been had by all.

Kicking off with the annual Vogalonga trip, Ronnie Maddox, my wife Nini and I drove the 3 x stable quads down to Venice. The first day was a “disastre” caused mostly by Brexit and the need for processing paperwork on both sides of the Channel. We did, admittedly, make the odd “directional mistake” which with an eleven metre trailer becomes quite serious when satnav takes you down narrow lanes and the wrong customs compounds! However, we managed and became very adept at unhitching the trailer, turning it around and starting off again.

Enough of this. Venice was as always magical, superbly organised by Andrew Boyle and kept constantly entertained by social gatherings organised by Miles Preston. The row itself was memorable – broke into song at one point – pity Diana didn’t have her ukulele with her. Here is our crew below at Mestre after we had completed our row.

The British Masters Championships took place the weekend after we got back and there was a good smattering of Irregulars competing. Suffice to say we contributed towards another LRC Victor Ludorum win merely by competing. The younger Masters sections did superbly well and all credit must go to them for winning a lot of well earned medals.

The following weekend went off very well with a good attendance at our Irregulars gym session on the Saturday 21st with the wonderful Hamzat followed by normal but quite windy outings on the Sunday.

The run up to HRR followed – the traditional meet up with Twickenham RC at Remenham Club to row over the Henley Course took place on Thursday 26th. James Sexton Barrow ( the British Master’s A1 ( not AI ) tactician and ex Captain was our guest and we put out an eight and a quad. Hugely enjoyable as always. Wonderful lunch with home made dishes brought along by all who attended. Twickenham’s turn to supply lunch next year!

Then Henley Royal which as we all know was a huge success. As one of the prize giving speech makers said – congratulations must, of course, go to the winning crews but it is the support and club spirit behind them that must also receive praise.

As usual, we had our skiff Tubby Bryant at the Sea Scouts and was able to watch some racing from the booms.

With our activities returning to near normality over the next few months, we shall be receiving some coaching lessons and there will also be an emphasis on training up some new badly needed bow steers. We have some keen candidates so keen to get this process going!

Have a great summer everyone.

Eddie Markes

NEW MEMBERS

We would like to welcome the following new members to the Club:

Chretien Harmeling

We hope you will enjoy being part of the London Rowing Club community and will help us build an ever happier and more successful club.

We are always pleased to have more members so, if you know of anyone who you think might like to join the Club, please either let us know or encourage them to get in touch with us themselves.

There is information on becoming a member on our website or you can email the Club’s Membership Secretary:

Andrew Boyle
Honorary Secretary, London Rowing Club

REPORTING SAFETY INCIDENTS

All members are reminded that if you are involved in or witness a water safety incident, you are required to report it using the following email address – safety@londonrc.org.uk

The Club will file any necessary reports on your behalf with British Rowing and the PLA. Members should not submit reports directly to either body.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

My thanks to everyone who has contributed to this edition of the London Roar. If you have an idea for an article or would be interested in submitting a piece for inclusion in a future edition, please email me on miles.preston@londonrc.org.uk

Please do not submit an article without first liaising with me.

Miles Preston
Editor of The London Roar