Scotch College

Scotch crew competes at rowing's 'Wimbledon'

Playing tennis at Wimbledon, entering a horse at Royal Ascot, playing cricket at Lord's ... competing at the Henley Royal Regatta is the rowing equivalent of these.

For the first time in 139 years of rowing, a Scotch crew competed in this time-honoured event. Part carnival, part theatre and world class competition make this an event like no other. Grandstands, enclosures and picnic areas line the course from start to finish - over 2,000 metres. During racing there is an incredible array of boats on the river watching each event. At lunchtime, the place to be is in the car park for a traditional 'Henley picnic'.

A crew made up of three members of the First VIII and one from the Second VIII entered the Fawley Challenge Cup for coxless quad sculls. The event drew an entry of 44 crews, including four from Australia and one from the USA. The field was reduced to 24 crews during a time trial on the Friday preceding the regatta.

All the events are match racing between two crews - the winning crew goes on to the next round, the losing crew is eliminated. Our crew of John Syme (bow), Wil Lockwood (2), Jayson Speck (3) and Will Emmett (stroke) lined up against a Cincinnati crew from the USA.

Our crew started well, but Americans took a narrow lead and our boys were unable to make up the leeway. Nonetheless, this was wonderful rowing. The event was finally won by a crew from King's School, Parramatta, in an all-Australian final.

We are most grateful for all the assistance we received from Eton College, particularly for the use of an excellent boat.

We believe that a Scotch VIII would be very competitive in the prestigious Princess Elizabeth Cup for schoolboy VIIIs. The boys are looking forward to nailing the Scotch colours 'firmly to the mast' at a future Henley Royal Regatta.

Greg Baker
Chairman of Rowing