Pennant is just reward as Bath University Boat Club produces best-ever Head of the River Race result
Rowers at the University of Bath continued their excellent 2015 form when they produced a best-ever finish at the prestigious annual Head of the River Race.
The Bath University Boat Club eight of Tom Bright, Tom Mapp, Joe Edgeley, Nick Bell, Harry Shimmin, Alex Clark, Ben Jackson and Alex Wilding, coxed by Kim Wilkinson, finished 39th overall and were winners of the Intermediate 3 Academic Pennant.
More than 300 crews took part in the race from Mortlake to Putney on the Tideway in London, featuring a number of GB Rowing Team Olympic and World champions.
University of Bath economics student Frazier Christie joined three of them – Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell, Paul Bennett and para-rower James Fox – in a composite University of London crew which finished seventh overall.
Christie, Bell, Jackson and Wilding are all members of the GB Rowing Team Start programme at the University of Bath and head coach Dan Harris believes the weekend’s results were just reward for plenty of hard work during the winter.
“Since mid-February there have been nine rowers and three coxes training so hard for this, it has been a big squad effort all round,” said Harris, who also praised Bath University Boat Club head coach Tony Larkman.
“The standard of rowing at the University of Bath is much higher than it has been before and there is a good mix of performance rowers and first-year students, like Tom Bright, Harry Shimmin and Alex Clark.
“It looks like we are going to have a good squad this summer and again next year, which is really exciting.”
A Leander Club crew featuring five World Champions, including Olympic champion Alex Gregory, reclaimed their Head of the River Race crown from Molesey BC.
