Head of the River Race 2016
The Head of the River Race (HoRR) is an annual boat race on the Thames from Mortlake to Putney, a distance of 4¼ miles (7km). For those who have in an interest in the World-famous Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge, HoRR is the same course but in the opposite direction. Since 1926, it has been the platform for Clubs to compare their 8’s against in the best in the country at the end of the winter season.
Below: watch a video of the race as seen from bow. The video was streamed live and had over 100 views by the end of the race.
Having lost 8 people from last year, the City of Sheffield’s Men’s Squad has gone through a period of re-building. An increased frequency of water training, regular 5k erg time submissions and the coaching effort of Donald McDougall have resulted in significant gains in boat speed throughout the three-month preparation period. As part of this, the first men’s 8+ competed in three head races. These races took place in Boston (5km), Doncaster (4km) and Nottingham (6km) and it has to be admitted we achieved a mixed bag of results at these fixtures.
Race day in London brought near perfect conditions on the Tideway along with 337 boats ready to race. The first boat changed category from Intermediate 1 (IM1) to IM3 due to the reduced level of experience to that of 2015 and placed 249th overall and 32nd in its category. While not as good as 2015, it was not a bad result considering the fact that only 3 people from last year’s crew were still in place.
The second boat, a composite with members from Sheffield Hallam University, held steady on last year’s performance finishing 322nd overall and 49th in its category. These results were good for an ever improving squad looking to make head way in this year’s regatta season, where the racing will be fast paced side by side competitions, and hopefully bring back to Sheffield so winning pots!
Below: the Sheffield City / Sheffield Hallam University composite crew enter the last 250m stretch.
I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the men’s squad, to thank our coxes – Alice, Alan and Chris – and our unflappable coach, Donald, without whose commitment, the squad’s participation in the Tideway Race would have remained a dream.