Wins at Quintin, Casey and Rayner Cups
The start of 2024 has seen plenty of training - despite the weather’s best efforts to keep crews off the water - and wins at Quintin Head, the Casey Cup and Rayner Cup.
The men’s 1st 8 rowed a solid race at Quintin Head, taking the headship by 0.3 seconds over St Paul’s School in a tightly contested category.
The following weekend, it was match-racing time, with the Casey Cup and Rayner Cup for the women against Vesta and London respectively, and the Boustead Cup for the men against London.
The women had a clean sweep of the weekend, winning the Casey Cup on Saturday and following up with three decisive victories against London in the Rayner Cup on Sunday - a fitting memorial to our late president, Pauline Rayner, who passed away the previous weekend.
The Boustead Cup proved a thrilling race; Thames took the lead early on and were a length up on the Surrey station at Hammersmith Bridge, but London dug deep and overhauled their opponents to win by a length.
The men also raced both Cambridge University and Oxford University as fixtures season began for the Boat Race crews. There were wins against the Cambridge lightweights, while Cambridge’s B-crew won their pieces by about two lengths. The following weekend, Oxford’s Blue Boat - featuring Lenny Jenkins, who raced for Thames in the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup at Henley in 2023 - won each of their three pieces by around three lengths.
The women’s squad are due to face the Oxford women’s Blue Boat, including double Wargrave winner Annie Sharp, in a ‘media fixture’ on 25 February.
