Throughout Henley Women's Regatta Maggie Phillips followed the trials and tribulations of Ken Roberts from Walton RC, head of the Commentary team. Here’s how the week unfolded -

Walton's juniors and vets finished off one of the clubs most successful regatta seasons in style by taking eight event victories at Burway Regatta. The youngest crew of Lawrence Fain and Harry Gaywood got the ball rolling in J13 doubles with a very convincing win. Then the J14 quad of Josh Hyatt, Ali Douglass, Ben Thorne, Jonny Coates and cox Ross Jones were involved in a fantastic race where the boats were almost level down the course, with Walton finally coming through to beat Wallingford by 1 foot!

Ollie Tomalin ended his junior career on a high by winning the double sculls with Angus Groom, beating a very strong Tideway Scullers crew in the final. Angus' dad, Glyn was not to be outdone, winning the veteran doubles with Neil West.

Lydia Jackson also concluded her junior career in memorable fashion, winning the coxless pairs with Sarah Hunt, and then finishing off with a very hard-fought junior singles win too. Great news for Reading University, where both Ollie and Lydia are intending to go next!

The boys J16 quad of Alex Jones, Callum Beddow, Matt Wade and Rupert Adams put on a very impressive performance to convincingly beat Weybridge, and in our last event, Ollie Knight came back from behind to snatch victory in a very tough J14 singles event.

More photos in the gallery Click here to see.

BOYS FOUR ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Alex Jones, Sam Knight, Liam Maloney and James Capel, rowing as a composite with St Georges College, won the gold medal in J16 coxless fours at the National Championships. The crew qualified fastest from the heats and then dominated the final, being more than two lengths clear of the field by 500m and holding a commanding lead through to the finish.
The girls J16 four of Catherine Bawtree, Kat Tviet, Julia Clarke, Joanna Fish, and cox Holly Jones did very well to qualify for the final and finish 5th overall

TWO GO TO JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Nick Clarke performed brilliantly at final trials to win all his key seat races and get selected for the Junior Worlds team. He is scheduled to row in the coxless pair.
Walton Captain and Junior Coach, Nick De Cata has also been selected to go as coach to the girls quad. The Junior World Championships are at Brive in France from Aug 5-8th

SAM & MATT SELECTED FOR GB-FRANCE
Sam Knight and Matt Wade won the Great Britain J16 trials in the double sculls to get selected for the GB-France match in Cardiff. This is Sam's first GB vest, and Matt is already an experienced International having won this event last year in France with Angus Groom.

Walton's juniors had an excellent day at Kingston regatta making five finals and winning 3 events with an overall performance that won the Victor Ludorum trophy for the second year in a row. Our J12 girls, Rebecca Traylen and Honor Liley, competing in their first regatta won a very impressive semi-final before losing to Maidenhead in a very good final. These girls have a very bright future as they continue to improve their technique and fitness. The boys then showed how much depth Walton has in double sculling as Lawrence Fain and Harry Gaywood won J13, and also Oli Knight and Jonny Coates won J14 too. These four, joined by Callum Gathercole, with Lawrence showing his all-round skills by switching to coxing, also made the J14 quads final, but their earlier exertions in the doubles meant they had to settle for a close second to Tiffin School.

The highlight of the regatta came in our final race, the J15 quads where the Walton crew have been coming agonisingly close to winning all year. Dan Patton, Dean Robson, Joe Taylor, Sam Young and cox Kieran Reals came all the way down the course neck and neck with Tiffin. The Walton supporters were shouting as loud as they could. We thought they'd just lost out again, but the judges finally announced that Walton had won, to a huge cheer of jubilation and relief from those on the bank!

Fantastic performances that fully deserved the Victor Ludorum trophy and a great credit to the boys and girls coaching co-ordinators Gordon Sandifer and Hazel Thiemann.

More photos in the gallery Click here to see.