The Women’s Eights Head of the River (WEHORR) and the Head of the River Race (HORR) took place on consecutive days last weekend for the first time ever. The weather gods cooperated with warm weather, fairly benign winds and Thames made the most of it with a set of fantastic results.

WEHORR

Although there were no pennants for Thames at WEHORR the results were excellent in a very competitive year.

The 1st 8 finished 12th overall, fifth in the senior category behind mainly funded centres and universities. The 2nd 8 came an excellent 24th, ninth out of 185 intermediate entries and after an unsettled week of preparation the 3rd 8 had a solid row to finish 70th.

In a tough category the masters had a good race and finished 158th overall.

The novices also acquitted themselves well. The novice 1st 8 were the third-fastest novice crew, finishing 122nd in a time that saw them beat around half of the intermediate field. The novice 2nd 8 were the 8th novice club crew, finishing 259th ahead of many other novice and intermediate boats.

HORR

After a cancellation last year the men were keen to get racing at HORR. The results were some of the best in the club’s history with four crews inside the top 40 and the 1st 8 retaining the Vernon Trophy which we secured in 2015 and 2016. In a competitive field the 1st 8 finished seventh overall and third in the club category behind Leander A and C.

The 2nd 8 produced an excellent row to finish 19th, the third Vernon-eligible club and seventh in the club category. The 3rd 8 finished 28th and the 4th 8 37th. The 5th 8 were 97th, making them faster than many club’s 1st 8s.

Due to the new points system used by HORR the novices were ineligible for the ‘beginner’ trophy but put in a storming performance to finish 191st overall – also faster than a lot of club’s 1st 8s!

Many congratulations to all the rowers, coxes and coaches for such a strong showing and thanks to the many Thames members who gave their time organising or volunteering to make both races happen

The next race for the club is the Veterans’ Head of the River on 25 March at 10.30am, and then it’s into summer racing – which based on the result of the weekend’s heads promises to be another good one for the club.

Women’s Eights Head and Head of the River 2018