Club News > 2005/2006 Rowing Report > 2003/04 archive 2002/03 archive

With the end of the 2004-2005 season signalling the departure of several senior rowers, including 2004 Olympic silver medallist Debbie Flood, there were worries that RUBC might not have such a successful campaign in 2005-2006. These worries were soon allayed however, by an exciting new intake of students, and the vast improvements shown by the remaining squad members.

The season kicked off with Reading Small Boats Head, in which the new recruits made an immediate impact as Mat Libaudiere, Dave Ewart, Rory Parsons and Will Morgan achieved a win in Senior 2 Quad Sculls. There were also wins for the existing seniors, with Will Robins, Con Sullivan, Mark Symons and Jono Radcliffe coxed by Rachel Eyre achieving a Senior 2 Coxed fours win. James Waters won novice sculls, whilst Maria Gerelle did the same in the Women’s Event, and Graham Benton was victorious in Senior 4.

This strong form continued with more wins throughout the early head season. The Men’s Novice Coxed Four of James Waters, Laurence Cullen, Jonny Hobgen and Rory Parsons achieved wins at Upper Thames, Marlow and Wallingford Heads. A Senior 2 Quad of James Waters, Graham Benton, Bradley Whale and Will Rand were split seconds off winning at Upper Thames, and the women’s novice four of Vikki Rickwood, Maria Gerelle, Zoe Copping and Becky Campbell also achieved second place at the same event. Taking advantage of their lack of points by joining from foreign associations, Dave Ewart and Mat Libaudiere won Novice Double Sculls at Marlow and were a close second to an Oxford Brookes crew at Upper Thames. The novices had their first taste of racing at Wallingford head, where three Novice eights were entered, the 1st Novice eight coming third in their category.

The first big head race of the year, the fours head, saw RUBC enter three boats. The Elite Quadruple Scull of Marcus Bateman, Sam Townsend, Alex Gregory, and Bill Lucas of Dart Totness, who will be joining RUBC for the 2006 season finished fourth in elite quads, and 12th overall. The Senior 2 Quad, with the same lineup as the Upper Thames boat were 13th in their category, whilst the Senior 2 coxed four came 19th. The National Indoor Rowing Championships also took place in November, in which RUBC again put in an excellent showing. Graham Benton won the Open Men’s event in a time of 5:46, whilst Sam Townsend, easily the fastest Under 23 rower, was 6th in Men’s BUSA with a time of 5:54. Alex Gregory was not far behind, posting a 6:04 to finish 23rd. Atlanta St John was 13th fastest in the Women’s BUSA event.

Moving into the new year, the heads started to take more of a focus on eights. At Henley Fours and eights head, the club achieved two wins. Mat Libaudiere, Will Morgan, Dave Ewart, Rory Parsons and Jules Caudwell won Senior 4 Coxed fours convincingly, in a time that would have won both Senior 3 and 2 aswell. The Men’s Novice eight also achieved a win, with the crew of Roly Chuter, Tony Walsh, Rory Parsons, Matt Purchase, Rob Benson, Dave Crooks, Rob Till and Kieran Varcoe, coxed by Alex Zammit showing great promise as four of them had only started rowing in October, with two more only having 6 months experience. The Women’s Novice Four again achieved a close second in their event.

The next event on the calendar was the first BUSA rowing event of the year, the head of the river. In horrible conditions, Atlanta St John in the women’s single scull and Dave Ewart and Jono Radcliffe in the men’s pair both achieved Bronze medals. The Women’s novice eight of Vikki Rickwood, Maria Gerelle, Becky Campbell, Zoe Copping, Inga Pritchard, Rosie Everitt, Rosy Sennett and Jenny Taylor achieved a superb third place which prequalified them for the BUSA regatta, whilst the men’s novice eight achieved a strong fifth place in a very competitive field.

Following BUSA, the eights only heads started. The first of these was Reading University’s own head race. A beautiful but cold day greeted the competitors, and the event ran to time without any hitches due to the excellent oraganisation of the Head Committee and Director of Rowing Will Rand. RUBC produced some excellent results, an impressive feat considering crew members were spending their time helping out running the event when not racing. The Men’s Senior 2 eight achieved 5th place in Senior 2, and 11th place overall, including beating UWE’s top boat. The second eight, racing in Senior 3, were second in their category, beaten by a very fast Brookes crew, but again quicker than UWE’s seconds. The Women’s and Men’s novices produced more strong results, with the women achieving an excellent second place result, and the men a solid fifth.

RUBC entered one eight for the Women’s Head, and two for the Men’s Head. The Women’s Senior 3 Crew of Jenny Collins, Nikki Brown, Freya Porteous, Becky Campbell, Vikki Rickwood, Maria Gerelle and Jenny Taylor made a strong place gain to finish 150th overall from a starting position of 195. Tash Page represented the RUBC in the GB Composite eight that won the event, and Atlanta St. John, racing in the Leander boat, was third. Both men’s crews also made excellent gains to produce RUBC’s strongest eights head results in recent memory. The top eight of Sam Townsend, Alex Gregory, Graham Benton, Bradley Whale, Will Robins, Mark Symons, Will Rand and Con Sullivan coxed by Zoe De Toledo gained over 100 places to finish 32nd, and achieve 2nd in the university pennant behind Newcastle. Starting right out the back at 392 due to an unfortunate crash for the 2005 second eight, the 2006 eight produced a gain of almost 200 places to finish 198th altogether. The crew of Mat Libaudiere, Jono Radcliffe, Will Morgan, Simon Barbour, James Talyor, Tony Walsh, Roly Chuter and Rory Parsons overtook six crews, their top 200 placing ensuring that RUBC will definitely have at least two entries in 2007. With James, Tony and Roly making the step up from the novice eight, and James only having rowed for 5 months, this was a superb effort.

The end of the head season signalled the Easter holidays, and the RUBC training camp. Heading down to Wimbleball lake in Devon, RUBC athletes had some tough water conditions to put up with, but their rough water training would prove vital for the following 2000m lake based regattas. All of RUBC’s athletes made a definite step up during the camp, which also greatly improved social bonding amongst squads.

A week into the summer term, the BUSA regatta took place in Nottingham. BUSA is the biggest event bar Henley in the RUBC calendar, and the whole boat club really rose to the occasion to record some fantastic results. Silver Medals were achieved in the high profile events of Championship Coxed fours and Championship Coxless Quads, with Will Robins, Sam Townsend, Mark Symons and Con Sullivan Coxed by Jules Caudwell missing out on gold to UL, whilst the quad of Sam Townsend, Alex Gregory, Dave Read and James Waters were beaten only by Newcastle. The men’s Junior four, a combination that was not even meant to exist until Will Morgan failed to make the weight for lightweight pairs, produced a shock gold medal. Dave Ewart, Simon Barbour, Will Morgan and Rory Parsons coxed by Jules Caudwell were 4.5 seconds down in fifth place at 1000m to go in their final, but with an impressive final sprint implemented by the frankly mental Dave Ewart, the crew surged through UWE, IC and the fast starting UL, before pipping Durham B on the line by just .19 of a second. Saturday also saw an excellent performance in single sculls, with Alex Gregory and Atlanta St John achieving gold medals in Men’s Championship and Women’s Junior events respectively, Tash Page achieving silver in Women’s Championship sculls, and Sam Townsend gaining a Bronze in men’s Junior sculls.

As well as the silver for the Men’s quad, the Women’s Championship quad also put together an excellent performance on Sunday. Atlanta St John, Jenny Collins, Freya Porteous and Nikki Brown rowed their way to the final, finishing in 6th place. In the quad scull sprint events, both RUBC’s male and female boats won, gaining the club more valuable BUSA points, and themselves gold medals.

Monday saw tired athletes putting together one final day of effort, which was certainly worth it, with more medals achieved. The calm, slight tailwinds of Saturday and Sunday gave way to rain and a foul cross-headwind, making racing very tough. The Men’s Championship eight of Alex Gregory, Dave Read, Sam Townsend, Will Robins, Jon Brownley, Jono Radcliffe, Mark Symons and Con Sullivan coxed by Jules Caudwell, achieved third place, the first time RUBC have ever medalled this event. Two more medals were achieved on Monday, with Mat Libaudiere achieving a silver in Junior Lightweight Sculls and Vikki Rickwood gaining bronze in Women’s Novice. James Waters and Simon Barbour were both unlucky to miss out on the medals, finishing fourth in Men’s Championship Lightweight and Men’s Novice single sculls respectively. Simon Barbour was particularly unlucky, running 2nd until half way, before clipping a buoy and catching a crab, which pushed him back to fourth.

Following BUSA, crews looked towards starting the process of bringing themselves up to a peak for Henley Royal and Henley Women’s regatta. The May exams bought a disruption to the rowing schedule, but RUBC still took part in a few races. A select bunch made the trip over to Ghent, where the Men’s Coxed four of Mark Symons, Graham Benton, Bradley Whale and Con Sullivan coxed by Zoe De Toledo were rewarded with a Bronze Medal in Sunday’s race. The Winning Junior coxed four from BUSA took the trip down to Putney Town, where they beat an IC crew to win Senior 3 coxed fours, and provided 20 minutes of chaos in central London when they blocked up Hammersmith Bridge with a boat trailer! May also saw the annual Ortner Challenge, where the RUBC Novice Eight takes on the old boys over a 500m course. Due to work commitments, not all of the novices could make the event, so their eight was slightly strengthened by the addition of three members of the winning BUSA Junior four! On race day, the not quite so novices won by about ¾ of a length, however Ortner showed them how it was done in the tug of war event, this time with the advantage towards them as several members donned rugby boots! A great day was had by all, and it was a good chance for the old boys to get to know the new recruits.

The Metropolitan Regatta in early June saw RUBC sending several experimental crews to race, as it was partly used as a seat racing trial. The Men’s Senior 2 Coxed four of Will Robins, Mark Symons, James Waters and Con Sullivan coxed by Zoe De Toledo were third in Senior 2 coxed fours on Saturday, the second crew of Dave Ewart, Jono Radcliffe, Simon Barbour racing on stroke side - his weaker side, and Rory Parsons coxed by Emma Howell-Matthes failed to make it through the heats. On Sunday, slightly different crews took to the water, with more success. Dave Ewart moved into the first four, which achieved a win in Senior 2 Coxed fours, and James Waters moved into the lightweight scull, coming third in the Elite Lightweight category. Will Morgan came into the stroke seat of the second crew, coxed by Alex Zammit, who won their heat of Senior three, beating Sir Steve Redgrave’s Liverpool Four, before recording a slightly disappointing fifth place in the final. Graham Benton and Bradley Whale were unlucky to Come 2nd in Senior 1 Pairs on Sunday to the GB Junior boat of Mo Sbihi and Charles Cousins. They made up in part for this disappointment however by winning the Senior 2 event on Sunday. The novices went to Walton And Weybridge regatta on the same weekend, where they were victorious in the eight, and contested the novice pairs final against each other.

The week after the Met, more Reading crews lined up at Reading Amateur regatta. The weekend really belonged to the Women’s Novice coxed four, who won their event on the Saturday, and got to the final of Senior 4 on Sunday. The Men’s crews for Henley had been decided by this time, with the top four of Dave Ewart, Will Robins, Mark Symons and Con Sullivan coxed by Alex Zammit winning senior 2 on both days, turning over strong fours from Reading and Bristol University. Graham Benton and Bradley Whale also won Senior 2 Coxless Pairs on the Saturday. The second four of Rory Parsons, James Waters, Simon Barbour and Will Morgan, coxed by Jules Caudwell, raced senior 3 on Saturday, losing in the final to a strong City of Oxford crew who had won on the Saturday of Ghent International Regatta. On Sunday, Simon and Will dropped out to be replaced by Graham and Brad, and that four, coxed by Emma Howell-Matthes, dominated the Senior 3 event. The novice men’s eight suffered a disappointing weekend, being beaten by Radley college on Saturday, and Worcester RGS on Sunday. However, their response to this setback over the last two weeks of racing really showed their mental strength. Sunday night saw the post-Reading Regatta Barbecue, which this year was ‘enhanced’ by a naked eight, and a bit of naked bonfire jumping from “Naked” Dave Read. This was the last time alcohol touched the lips of the RUBC crews for Henley, as they went about trying to gain the speed they would need to be competitive.

At Marlow, the week after Reading, some encouraging displays were seen by all three Henley crews. The top four, Racing at Senior 1 were very unlucky not to make their final in a heat which involved crews from York City and the Army which later contested the final of the Brit at Henley. The second four was leading their heat of Senior 2 for three quarters of the race, but exhaustion from a week of tough training meant they were overhauled on the line, and also sadly missed out on the final. However, with a week to taper off before Henley, they were confident they could qualify for the Prince Albert. The temple eight, consisting of the novices, and the Jono Radcliffe, the unlucky 9th man after seat racing, put in a vastly improved row in their heat of Senior 4 eights, again just missing out on qualification. Radcliffe, however, would have an excellent end to his season, as he stroked a Senior 2 Coxless Four including Graham Benton, Bradley Whale and Will Rand to victory, in a photo finish with Thames RC. Whilst Marlow was going on, RUBC also had a crew entered in Women’s Henley. Vikki Rickwood, Becky Campbell, Zoe Copping and Freya Porteous coxed by Alex Zammit put in a very strong row, and were unlucky not to qualify for intermediate fours, in a tough field.

The Friday after Marlow bought Henley Qualifiers. With the top four having been pre qualified and selected, it was up to Reading’s second four and their temple eight to attempt to follow them into Sunday’s draw. The second four realised their potential, and managed to qualify, turning over several crews that had beaten them at Marlow the previous week. It was a fantastic result, and the first time RUBC has qualified two fours for Henley since 2001. The Temple eight put in the row of their lives, only missing out on qualification by around 10 seconds, to some vastly more experienced crews. Five of them will be back next year, and aiming to compete at the full event.

The draw for Henley Royal produced some tough opposition for both crews. The second four had the misfortune to draw seeded favourites UL A in the first round, whilst the first four was up against an unknown quantity in the Dutch Crew GSR Aegir. The second four were first to race, and despite putting in a very strong row, were turned over by 3 ½ lengths by the extremely quick UL crew, who were eventually losing finalists. Later in the day, the top crew produced an excellent row to beat Aegir by just over one length and set up a tasty encounter with a Goldie BC four, a development boat for the 2008 Boat race. Despite putting in a very strong finish, the RUBC crew went down by ¾ of a length, but earned a lot of praise in getting so close to such a big name. In the Visitors Challenge cup, Sam Townsend was desperately unlucky to miss out on rowing in the winning boat due to an injury he sustained at the Poznan World Cup regatta. The crew, still named as Oxford Brookes and Reading University beat an IC and Molesey crew containing Johnny and Greg Searle, to clinch the trophy.

The Saturday of Henley saw the traditional Ortner Barbecue, where club old boys came to re-acquaint themselves with one another, and get to know the new faces. It was a great way to end the season, with a few drinks being consumed by all!

Most of RUBC then went home for the summer. However, there was still rowing to be done for a few members. Alex Gregory was selected as the GB Sculler for the World Under 23 championships in Hazewinkel, and was very unlucky not to make the A final. Still, he achieved a very creditable seventh overall, to add to the 9th he achieved at the Senior World Cup Regatta at Poznan. Unfortunately Sam Townsend’s injury also kept him out of the Under 23s, but he will be looking to make a strong impression on the GB team this season. James Waters was selected for the English Lightweight Quad for the Commonwealth regatta in early August, and was victorious, returning with a gold medal after having beaten competition from Scotland and Wales.

RUBC also fielded an eight and a coxless four for Henley Town and Visitors Regatta, with both boats unlucky to miss out on their finals to the eventual winners. The eight went down by ½ a length to Henley Rowing Club in the Senior 2 event, whilst the coxless four, also racing at Senior 2 lost out by three feet to eventual winners Thames B. Some slightly wayward steering and a near collision with a young family in a tin launch did not help matters! Ortner Boat Club achieved their first ever official win, as they won senior four coxed fours. The crew of Joe Prewitt, Jon Amery, James Davies and Phil Longstaff Coxed by Clare Carver won after a re-row in their final. Reports that Mr Amery’s pacemaker almost gave out upon the news of a re-row are as of yet unsubstantiated!

Over the summer, significant building work is being done on the boathouse in order to bring the women’s facilities in line with those of the men, giving them a proper changing area, showers and toilets. Congratulations must go to Rebecca Campbell, the 2005-06 president, for pushing to get these facilities developed, as without her hard work plans for them may never have got off the ground.