London Rowing Club claimed their most prestigious trophy in years on Saturday as the Thames’s biggest annual rowing event celebrated its 100th anniversary on home water.
London RC finished third overall at the Head of the River Race (the men’s equivalent of a marathon, run over 4.25 miles from Mortlake to Putney Bridge) and won the Vernon Trophy, awarded to the fastest club crew based on the Tideway. Their time of 17 minutes 10.7 seconds edged out neighbours and two-time holders Thames Rowing Club by 3.4 seconds, in what amounted to a local derby decided by the width of a few strokes.
Both clubs are based on Putney Embankment, within metres of each other and within sight of the finish line.
The result was closer than recent form suggested. London had beaten Thames by three lengths in the Bowstead Challenge Cup the previous weekend, but the two clubs produced a far tighter contest on race day.
Thames finished fifth overall in 17:14.1. It was a strong performance in a large international field that included Olympic athletes racing in club colours, but not strong enough to keep the Vernon Trophy on their side of the boathouse.
Putney Town Rowing Club also had multiple crews in the race, their A boat finishing 91st overall.
At the front of the field, Leander Club won the Fairbairn Trophy (the overall prize) for a third consecutive year, finishing in 16:47.5. Oxford Brookes University were runners-up for the third year running, 8.9 seconds back.
The centenary race attracted over 370 crews from across the UK and internationally, with the procession of boats passing through Putney from around 12:30pm. It was the first of three consecutive weekends of racing on this stretch of the Thames: the Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge follows on 4 April.
Saturday’s result completed a strong fortnight for Putney rowing. Two weeks ago, the Women’s Eights Head (the largest women’s rowing race in the world) brought nearly 3,000 competitors through Putney, with local clubs including Putney Town represented in the field. The day before that, Putney High School finished second in the girls’ open first eights at the Schools’ Head of the River Race.
The London RC crew that won the Vernon Trophy was: Rory Copus (cox), Sean O’Mahony (stroke), Tom Cross, Thibby Verdin-Mulot, Isaac Workman, George Lauchlan, Ben Edmondson, Rui Xu, Edoardo Marshall (bow).
