Wallingford Head 2018

It was an early start for senior crews of UoNBC this weekend, heading south to race at Wallingford Head on home waters for Oxford Brookes, notorious for its tricky bend halfway down the 5km. Often one of the colder events on the calendar it’s a tough one to round off the term of racing. Sunday saw the biggest club entry to the event in recent years, with many athletes doubling up over the two divisions.

In the morning division wins came from the lightweights in the women’s U23 coxless four, making the transition from sculling in their quad for much of the start of the season. The men’s lightweights were also out in the coxless fours and put together tidy rows to take the 1-2 finish in the open category. In the heavyweights, bringing together the fours from earlier in the season, the U23 eight took a comfortable victory in their category. Another notable finish goes to the intermediate eights, from both squads, making good time down the course to demonstrate the growth in depth at the senior level, respectable times closing in on the second boats for both groups.

With the event a little behind schedule and the temperature seeming to drop, it was a quick turnaround for the afternoon division. Riding off the results of the morning, 5 eights boated to make their claim for some more silverware. After a couple of changes from the morning crew the heavyweight men put on a performance for the spectators lining the banks for the last kilometre, cruising past Warwick University to pick up another comfortable win, this time in Band 2 open eights. With a top 10 spot overall alongside crews from Oxford Brookes and Leander, and a lightweight boat following up the heavies close behind it was a strong display. For the women it was a good afternoon, the top boat coming together late but closing the gap significantly from last year on the top spot in their category.

Summary of results: