Twickenham races two eights in 100th anniversary of the Head of the River Race

Twickenham Rowing Club raced two men’s eights in the 100th anniversary of the Head of the River Race on Saturday 27th March.

Twickenham’s A boat Tsaretta was coxed by Ruth Chapman who recently returned to Twickenham following a previous stint as a member of the junior squad, followed by several years away at university. The crew, featuring senior squad rowers Ben Haworth (stroke), Tom Baldwin, Jonny Searle, Steve Parker, Vlad Opanasiuk, George Scott, Wes Maccabe, and Hugo Thomas (bow), finished with a time of 19:14.8, nearly 22 seconds faster than the 2025 outing.

The improved time also finished several seconds closer to HoRR’s winner this year compared to 2025. This year’s crew finished 144th overall (5th in the medium club category).

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c14589_e881601b999b4a9f98b7c31d9f36422c/480p/mp4/file.mp4

Twickenham's Senior Men's A boat through the starting line at Chiswick Bridge.

After racing a single eight in the 2025, this year’s race returns the club to multiple entries and reflects the goal to race multiple boats in events through the remainder of the year.

Twickenham’s B boat Robert Bailey was coxed by Lauren Ferreira. The crew, featuring Eoghan Beamish (stroke), Declan Percival, Ed Tofts, Tom Milne, George Popplewell, James Watson, Marshall Fleming, and Adi Pierce (bow) was composed of rowers across the senior and master’s squads and several rowers in their first season of competitive rowing following time in Twickenham’s Learn to Row programme and Development Squad, finished with a time of 20:40.8, finishing 273rd overall (20th in medium club category).

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c14589_849f9c31f104487f993bab59ee35cc10/480p/mp4/file.mp4

Twickenham's Senior Men's B boat through the starting line at Chiswick Bridge.

The inter-squad mix, combined with some extended leave from several rowers before the race, meant that the squad’s first time in the boat together was the morning’s pre-paddle session. Despite the lack of time together in the boat and several members in new seats, the crew had a technically sound race, building on the recent return to water training over the past month.

Building on this momentum, the senior men’s crews will be focusing on training camp the weekend of the 11th/12th April as they look ahead to regatta season.

Interested in joining Twickenham Rowing Club’s senior men or any of our other squads? Reach out to Helen Brown, Director of Rowing at dor@twickenhamrc.co.uk