Shiplake secure three golds at U19 World Championships

SHIPLAKE College, Henley Rowing Club and an athlete from Hurley all picked up medals for Great Britain at this year’s World Rowing U19 Championships held in Trakai, Lithuania.

Shiplake College picked up three gold medals and a silver at the five-day event that ran from Wednesday and finished on Sunday.

Competing in the junior men’s eight, Luca Hunt-Davis and his crew easily retained their U19 title. The crew, all making their U19 world debuts, led from the start and maintained their composure throughout the race to cross the line ahead of Czechia and Germany.

Edward Galer and Isaac Dean also secured gold in the junior men’s coxless fours. The crew were quick off the start and took the lead at halfway to win the title by clear water, winning by almost four seconds.

Speaking after the race, Galer said: “It feels good. We went out with confidence. We knew we had the speed and put ourselves in a good position to take the win.”

Amelia Westbrook secured silver in the junior women’s coxless fours. The race was another close battle, and the crew held on to secure second place.

Shiplake College’s head of girls’ rowing, Dan Safdari, was also present at the championships, coaching the junior women’s eight that went on to become champions.

Speaking on the pupils’ performance at the championships, Shiplake director of rowing Dave Currie said: “I’m absolutely delighted with what Luca, Isaac, Ed and Amelia have achieved for Team GB.

“It’s fantastic that our programme continues to produce athletes of this calibre and I’m delighted to be welcoming back Luca for 2025-2026 as a Year 13 pupil.”

Meanwhile, Henley Rowing Club picked up a gold and silver medal while a rower from Hurley also gained a first place finish.

Henley’s Chloe Hughes raced in the coxless fours with Sophie Haisman, Ottilie Campbell-Reide and Amelia Westbrook.

The final was a fierce battle all the way down the 2,000m course between the USA and GB with the USA taking gold on the line and GB silver just 0.6 seconds behind. Italy took bronze nearly a length back.

Henley’s Charlotte Tong had the bow seat in the GB eight with Hurley’s Ione Haley and Eve Pinsent, Freya Coupe, Charlotte Taylor-Aubery, Elayna Yap, Lucy Pillar, Lara Bone and cox Hannah Jacobs.

In the final Australia went out fast and led the pack to halfway but as they started to fade the GB crew upped the pace and from 1,500m just kept getting away from the rest of the crews and stormed across the line for gold, a half-length up on the USA in silver and Romania in third.

Abbey School sixth-former Haley, 17, who competed at Henley Royal Regatta for Marlow Rowing Club this year, comes from a rowing family with both her parents having competed for Scotland.