Thames' Fours triumph

Fours Head

The Fours Head was a standard November day with a strong wind that luckily didn’t cause the organisers to quake in their boots. Thames boated 14 crews for the event, without doubt one of the largest entries.

Due to the use of the new and untested banding system, we weren’t holding our breath for any wins as the vast majority of our crews, including a Vets boat, had ended up in ‘Band 1’. However as the crews came down and results started rolling in, it appeared we had had a pretty good day.

Our men’s quad, rowing in a 12 year old shell with well-used oars, romped home well ahead of the field in Band 2. Not long after came the coxless fours field and it was clear that all boats were going well with our lead 4- finishing fifth, with two more in 11th and 12th and then another crew winning Band 2 – much to our pleasant surprise!

The women also had a good day. The top Band 2 W4- finished narrowly behind Imperial College’s top boat and were belatedly awarded a pennant alongside IC. The real stand out performance was the third place of the top W4+ in Band 1, behind only Leander and Cambridge Women; a superb result.

The Band 2 W4+s also produced solid performances, finishing second and fourth in a big field.

All told with three pennants, being the only club bar Leander to win a senior event, and three second places, we can be happy that the opening weeks of the season have paid off.

Veteran Fours Head

Vet Fours Head was, unusually, raced the day before Fours Head. Although it was a calmer day it was also colder and wetter. Thames fielded seven crews (plus a composite) and both the WE4- composite and our own WB4+ triumphed in their categories.

The WB 4+, with a last-minute upgrade to a better shell they had never trained in, had a solid row from start to finish despite being in a vacuum. They took their category pennant by 4 seconds from Lea, continuing a solid run of results by a relatively new women’s masters squad at the club.

The A4- finished second in their category and seventh overall. Both the men’s and women’s B4x were fourth in their categories, with the men finishing eighth overall. The D4-s were third and seventh in their category and the E4+ and F4x both fifth.

Up next for all, the Remenham Challenge!