OXFORD Brookes University again dominated Wallingford’s Head of the River meeting, with 12 wins from their 23 entries, writes John Wiggins.

This is as strong a showing as we have seen in the recent years of Brookes’s supremacy.

The university produced the fastest eights, coxed and coxless fours for both the men’s and women’s events, breaking the course record in each of these bar the women’s eight.

The men’s squad produced the fastest six eights, with overall victory going to their second crew – Gavin Mcwilliams (cox), Henry Blois-Brooke, Seb Newman, Matt Hnatiw, Matt Rowe, Gareth Syphas, Matt Newman, Ben Reeves and Ari Cohen, four of whom are freshmen.

The narrowly beaten first eight had some consolation racing in fours and winning the open coxless category through Morgan Bolding, Rory Gibbs, Matt Aldridge, Henry Swarbrick and cox Sam Nunn.

The winning Brookes women’s eight was Maddie Dobson, Susie Dear, Grace Macdonald, Sophia Heath, Anna Boada, Aly Vogelzang, Zoe Taylor, Imogen Mackie and cox Aisling Humphries-Griffiths.

Other victories came in bands 1 and 2 men’s eights as well as the under 20 and 23 categories.

Brookes’s men also won coxed fours band 3, while the women’s eight – with Emily Herridge replacing Mackie – split into fours to win the open coxed and coxless events.

Headington School spectacularly claimed the women’s J18 eights title at with Hannah Hornby, Anna Lockhart, Rachel Grainger, Cordi Mahoney, Lizzie Stephens, Alice von Onselen, Franny Curtis, Tilly Burn and cox, Lizzie Townhill.

The host club’s rowers spent much of their time setting up and marshalling on the river or on the exposed river banks in a chilling wind, but warmed up enough to capture two titles.

The morning saw victory for the Masters A coxed four of Leigh Ann Bard, Kat Butler, Tori Bellamy, Sam Burrows and cox Saz Ball.

In the afternoon, it was the Masters C eight of Helen Casey, Nikki Absolom, Jenny Taylor, Katie Kapernaros, Rachel Edge, Suzie Pilkington, Karen Walker and Laura Forrest, coxed by Maddy Hunt, that came to the fore.

The only other local victory was for St Anne’s College winning the band 4 women’s eights.