The Hall at Henley

Teddy Hall students and alumni have recently represented the College at rowing and swimming competitions in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, over the past few months. We thought we would put together a summary of the various events and congratulate them all on their fantastic sporting efforts.

Henley Club to Pub Swim, Saturday 22 July 2023

Aularians Lauren Irwin (2018, Earth Sciences) and David Wilkinson (2018, English and Modern Languages) took part in the Henley Club to Pub Swim, swimming 1.5km from Henley Rowing Club upstream towards Marsh Lock before at two large marker buoys and going back downstream to finish at the Angel on the Bridge pub. Lauren and David are both pictured in the Henley Standard.

The Teddy Hall Boat Club (SEHBC) attended three Henley Regattas: the Henley Women’s, the Henley Royal and the Henley Town & Visitors’ with much success all round.

Toby Whitehead (2017, Biochemistry), SEHBC President, reports:

Henley Women’s Regatta, Friday 16 June – Sunday 18 June

Three SEHBC athletes entered Henley Women’s Regatta. Raggy Ravichandran (2019, DPhil Engineering) and Erika Dutton (2020, Medicine) competed as part of the OUWBC development squad. Raggy and his crew were unlucky in the most heavily subscribed qualification time trial of the regatta. Erika qualified through the time trial, won the first-round knock-out race against Lincoln College before losing an exceptionally tight race to Surrey University by a canvas. Hazel Wake (2019, Biochemistry) competed in the Aspirational Single Sculls, coming through the time trial and winning her first round before a tough race against international opposition.

Henley Royal Regatta, Tuesday 27 June – Sunday 2 July

Hazel Wake competed in the Princess Royal Challenge Cup (Women’s Single Sculls), losing in the first round, but it was amazing to see her qualify and compete in an elite over-subscribed event. Adam Pattenden (2020, Engineering Science) and Will Loosley (2020, Geography) were in an Isis BC 8+ in the Temple Challenge Cup (Student Eights) and won against Australian opposition before a tough race against an elite crew from University of Washington, USA.

Dame Katherine Grainger is a Steward of the Regatta, a Scottish former rower and current Chair of UK Sport and our Domestic Bursar, Mark Blandford-Baker was working with her in his role as a Chairman’s Assistant.

Alumnus Thomas Hole (2010, Physics), former SEHBC rower and current women’s head coach at the club, competed for Marlow in the Wyfold Challenge Cup (Club Coxless Fours), narrowly losing in the first round to a crew from Cork, Ireland. Marie-Claire Jalaguier (2021, Water Science, Policy and Management) coxed the City of Oxford men’s eight in the Thames Challenge Cup (Club Eights), losing to a crew from Munich in the first round.

The highlight, however, was Joe White (2016, Modern Languages) competing for Thames in the Britannia Challenge Cup (Club Coxed Fours). The crew came through four rounds of racing over the week, emerging victorious to claim the win. A huge congratulation to Joe and his crew!

Henley Town & Visitors’ Regatta, Saturday 29 July 2023

Our women’s 4+ came third overall in the Band 1 W4+ final, racing against two crews from Vesta RC London. Even with last-minute crew changes due to injury, they pulled together well and held onto Vesta for the whole race.

Our men’s 8+ raced against Warwick University and Curlew London, easily moving away from Curlew and holding on to Warwick to secure 2nd place in the heat.

In addition, Hall Junior Research Fellow Roman Kuhn raced for Falcon RC in the quad.

And last but certainly not least, our men’s pair faced off with Linacre Boat Club in the semi-final. They put in a powerful shift but didn’t quite make it into the final.

It was also great to see our Domestic Bursar, Mark Blandford-Baker, umpiring the Regatta as well.

All in all, a great few regattas over the summer to end the 2022-23 season. The club is looking forward to a new year with more chances for success!

If you’d like to find out more about SEHBC, follow them on Instagram or check their website: www.sehbc.org.