WALLINGFORD’S lightweight women showed their class by retaining their Fullers Fours Head crown on a crowded London Tideway, writes John Wiggins.

Brianna Stubbs, Gemma Hall, Emma McDonald and Louise Hart held on to their title with nearly a minute’s advantage over their nearest rivals.

Wallingford’s top men’s boat was third in the IM1 quad event.

Oxford University tested their new squads for the first time on the Boat Race waters.

The men, though finishing in the topthree positions in Elite events, ominously just lost out to the Cambridge boats.

Oxford’s women won the Elite coxed four with Lauren Kedar, Emily Cameron, Chloe Laverak, Harriet Austin and cox, Ellie Shearer finishing ten seconds ahead of one of the Cambridge boats.

Headington School came third in the senior IM1 quads but might rue their choice of events as their time would have won them the junior race – for which they were eligible – by one second.

City of Oxford took their biggest fleet for many years and secured fourth places in the coxed and coxless men’s IM1 as well as the women’s coxed IM1 category.

Radley College also managed fourth in the junior fours.

Over the weekend, more than 700 crews took to the tidal Thames, which also hosted the Veteran Fours Head on Sunday

Wallingford again found success with their B quad finishing with the second fastest time of the day.

There were also category wins for the D coxed four of Sara Ball (cox), Mike Edge, Pete King, Steve Pearson and Richard Smith and the women’s D quad of Julia Wilks, Rachel Edge, Alice Brown and Jenny Taylor.

Meanwhile upstream, J16 double of Jack Halsall and Ed Robson won gold by just under a second at the Pangbourne Junior Head.

The club’s juniors also won silver medals in the boys J15 and J18 doubles

Abingdon RC took bronze in the J15 doubles and the J15 single for Charlotte Rowley, a race won by Headington’s Grace Parrott.

Headington’s girls came second in six other events including Rachel Grainger racing a year up in the J17 single.

Magdalen College School dominated the J14 singles, won by James Pullinger and also took the J14 quads title.

Radley’s J16s fared well as Theo Metcalf won the single scull and then joined with Ned Rae Smith, Felix Rawlinson and Rory Gearing to triumph in the J16 quads.

Further afield, Wallingford’s Sean Morris returned to Italy successfully to defend his Masters H title racing over the 11km course in Turin

He finished in 50 minutes and won by nearly a minute for his sixth successive victory.

THE Olympic successes of two Oxford Brookes University rowers was marked at a special event.

The ceremony at the John Henry Brookes Building saw the unveiling of two new eight’s boats, named after Brookes Olympians Olivia Carnegie-Brown and Scott Durant.

The pair rowed for Team GB at the Olympic Games in August, with Carnegie-Brown winning a silver medal with the women’s crew and Durant landing gold in the men’s eight.

Talking about her experience competing at the Olympics, Carnegie-Brown said: “Becoming an Olympic silver medallist with the most amazing eight other girls was the most poignant part for me.

“Rio was an amazing city, I only had to blink to miss something so the second week was so much fun trying to experience as much as possible.

“The squad and the training at Brookes was so fun but also tough. We really worked hard for the results and enjoyed it at the same time.

“I feel very honoured to have a boat named after me and I hope that the nine girls that race in it will hold strong to these values and achieve many successes.”

Scott said: “It’s a great honour. Brookes is the best rowing university in the country and one of the best clubs.

“Considering the calibre of those who have boats named after them in the past, it feels very special. It would be great to see it win Henley.”