Griffen 2014

24 Rowing Report ROWI NG R E PORT It is difficult to find adequate superlatives for the performances of the Boat Club and Old Abingdonian oarsmen in recent times; 2013 was the most spectacular and outstanding year in the Club’s long history. The First Eight won both the National Schools’ Regatta and, for the third year in a row, the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup, at Henley; 1948 was the last year that any school managed to win Henley for three successive years. Additionally, a pre-qualified Griffen Boat Club Crew battled through and won the final of the Thames Challenge Cup less than an hour before the School’s First Eight won the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup. The new School year saw James Fox arriving from Winchester College to replace Athol Hundermark. James coached the U16 and ran the Boat Club with great success, ensuring that everything possible was done for the record number of third year boys (65, of whom 34 won a gold medal at one event or another), however the appeal of returning to Winchester as a housemaster was too much and he left following Henley to be replaced by Mark Earnshaw. Mark has been a Men’s High Performance Coach with the Great Britain Olympic Rowing team. In January 2013, Jamie Copus (2011), competing in multiple events at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, secured bronze in the Eight, silver in the Quad and a gold in the Lightweight Double; an impressive haul. At School, the First Eight, coached by Dave Currie, finished second at the School’s Head to Hampton, but won Championship Eights at National Schools’ by over a length. Following the National Schools’ Saturday final the Eight split down into Fours, managing to win the Coxed Fours, also by over a length’s verdict. In Sunday’s Henley final, the First Eight secured victory with a half a length victory over St Edward’s School in a new record time of 6 minutes and 17 seconds. This followed a hard-fought victory in the semi-final against Scotch College, Melbourne, in the end Abingdon broke Scotch and ran out victors by 1½ lengths. The previous rounds had seen them defeating Eton (2¾ lengths), Monmouth (3½ lengths) and Kingston Grammar School (easily). Following this historic victory it was interesting to hear the Boat Club being hailed as “the best school boat club in the world” by experts interviewed on Regatta Radio. The Griffen crew, consisting of Joe Calnan (2003), Jakob Schleu (2010), Vassilis Ragoussis, John Carter (both 2011), Alex Fisher, Tom Pagel, Felix Newman, Andrew Halls and cox Neil McKenzie (all 2012), had a straightforward progression to the semi-final with victories over Upper Thames Rowing Club ‘B’ (3½ lengths), Vesta Rowing Club (3½ lengths) and Green Lake Crew, USA (1½ lengths). In the semi the crew had one of the most exciting finishes in recent memory, overtaking Thames Rowing Club ‘A’ in the final strokes following a huge surge through the enclosures with the rate in the mid 40s, to win by just a canvas. Having won the semi-final in such dramatic style, the following day’s final was more mundane, if that is possible for a Henley final. They were level or slightly up for most of the course before gently pulling clear of Upper Thames Rowing Club ‘A’ over the second half of the course to win by a length. The crew’s kit and entry to other regattas in the run-up to Henley was sponsored by the Old Abingdonian Club; it is a hoped that appearances at Henley will become an annual event for Griffen crews. Jamie Copus (2011) Griffen VIII - Training session with coach, Arran O’Dell