Head of the River

On 15 March 2008, 420 crews rowed down the Thames in the annual Head of the River race

The Head of the River Race takes place in March every year with 420 crews rowing down the River Thames from Mortlake to Putney. On 15 March 2008, hundreds of spectators lined the banks of the Thames to watch the crews racing for first place.

About 40 alumni gathered at Imperial’s Boathouse in Putney, which is in an ideal location to watch the crews finishing, for a reception to mark the occasion. Rowing has played an important role in the experiences of many an Imperial student over the years; so it was no surprise that alumni spanning seven decades, as far back as John Flashman (Electrical and Electronic Engineering 1940), returned to the boathouse for this special event.

Alumni events are always a great opportunity to catch up with former classmates and the Head of the River reception was no different; Ron Beveridge (Civil Engineering 1967), who rowed at Imperial in the late 1960’s, met his cox, Chris Senior (Chemical Engineering 1965), from his Henley crew for the first time in over 40 years.

Much to the delight of Imperial’s alumni, the Imperial crew finished an amazing second. With only Leander beating them, the Imperial crew - the top rated university based crew in the competition - had a starting position of third and overtook Molesey about a third of the way into the race.

The Imperial crew included two current students, Adam Freeman-Pask (MSc Environmental Engineering) as the stroke and Simon Hislop (Medicine), as well as Imperial alumnus Seb Pearce (MEng Mechanical Engineering 2005) as the cox. Both Adam and Simon have received support from the College with their rowing via the Rowing Scholarship Scheme.

Steve Trapmore, Imperial's new Head of Rowing, said: "What a fantastic achievement for Imperial rowing. The boys have been training hard and it really has paid off for them. We are committed to continuing with and building on the excellent rowing infrastructure we have here at Imperial and look forward to developing more athletes like Adam and Simon to keep the Imperial reputation going from strength to strength."