Imperial competes in The 174th Wingfield Sculls rowing race

The 174th Wingfield Sculls took place last Wednesday. It is a rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England, over a much longer distance than summer regattas (such as BUCS and Henley).

The course is 4.25 miles (6.8km) and competitors race from Putney to Mortlake. Wingfield Sculls is an invitation event with only four scullers racing side-by-side for the title.

This year Imperial was lucky enough to have three of the eight competitors; Tim Richards and Wilf Kimberly in the Men’s event and Mel Wilson in the Women’s event. Imperial dominated the results with Mel Wilson and Tim Richards winning for us on our home water.

The women’s race began an hour before the Men took to the water. Imperial’s Mel Wilson started strongly in a contest that also included GB rowers Vicky Thornley (Leander) and Imogen Walsh (London) as well as UL’s Emily Craig. All four scullers reached the Mile Post within the course record time of 4:44, set by Anna Watkins in 2011, so it was some very tough competition! Mel took a lead and just kept building on it, she led through every time marker, also setting a new record to Hammersmith Bridge, bettering Watkins’s time of 8.03 by just over two seconds. Mel’s winning margin gave her an emphatic victory by more than 16s. It was an outstanding winning performance that should give her confidence going forward this season for both Imperial and GB. Defending Wingfields champion, Walsh, finished two seconds ahead of Craig with Thornley retiring after the Chiswick Steps.

After the excitement of the Women’s race, the Men’s race didn’t disappoint. There was some early battling between the Imperial and UL lightweights with Tim quickly taking the lead, he pushed on and significantly increased his lead between the first mile marker and as he went through Hammersmith Bridge he had gained clear water between him and the others. Meanwhile there was a tussle between his competitors, two of whom had been his teammates at the U23 World Championships last year. But as it was in the Women’s race, Tim dominated from start to finish with a resulting winning margin of 14 seconds.

Both Tim and Mel have joined a group of prestigious past winners. After receiving their beautiful silver sculls presentation boxes at the prize giving ceremony, hosted by Tideway Scullers, both Wingfield winners are now preparing for GB Trials, alongside a very large contingent of Imperial College Boat Club representatives; student past and present.