On Sunday 8th July Maidenhead RC's Phil Clapp became the first Maidenhead athlete to win a Henley Medal for 13 years.

Phil was sculling in a composite crew with Chris Clark(stroke), Alex Walker(2) and Drew Ford (bow) of Henley RC in the Fawley Cup for under-19 men's quadruple sculls. The crew was jointly coached by Tom Jost of Maidenhead RC and Paul Moss of Henley RC. Due to recent rain the 2,112m upstream course felt even longer than usual and consequently times were slow by the standards of previous years. The quality of the competition was indicated by the fact that nearly 30 entered crews failed to make it through the qualification time trial in addition to the 24 crews that competed at the regatta proper.

The Maidenhead/Henley composite had a bye through the first round so did not race until Friday where they had a comfortable 3 length win over Wallingford RC. Saturday was an exhausting day with quarter finals early in the day and semi-finals at the end. In their quarter final, they had a tough race against a Marlow/Walton composite. Perhaps not sculling as well as they can, they nevertheless gained and maintained a lead and won by a half length in easily the fastest of the four quarter finals.

In the semi-final, they lined up against a much fancied crew from Sydney RC, Australia containing a world junior bronze medallist. This called for an exceptional performance from the Maidenhead/Henley composite - and this was exactly what they delivered. Both crews took the rate up to a phenomenal 48 strokes per minute off the start but by the end of the island, the Maidenhead/Henley crew already had their bow in front. As expected, it was a tough race, but Maidenhead/Henley gradually drew out to a length lead by the halfway point and withstood the pressure to maintain a narrow lead for most of the rest of the course. As they reached the enclosures the lead was down to half a length, but the Maidenhead/Henley composite raised the rate first to 38 and then up above 40 in a decisive move as they pulled away to win by 2 1/4 lengths.

In the other semi-final, the Peterborough RC/Star Club composite had triumphed over Windsor Boys school in a close contest by a margin of only 3/4 length but in a much slower time, so expectation was high for the Maidenhead/Henley crew in the final on Sunday.

The final was the first race after the lunch interval on Sunday. The Maidenhead/Henley composite repeated their electric start from Saturday's final and Peterborough/Star were unable to match them. The lead increased steadily all the way along the course and a dominant Maidenhead/Henley performance was concluded with an "easily" verdict at the finish.

This was a truly remarkable result from Phil, who was only 17 in April and for his coach of three seasons, Tom Jost. For Tom it was the culmination of eight years, both as a rower and as a coach, of attempts to win at Henley, with several previous near misses. Club president Derek Cook, who has also helped to coach Phil, followed the race in the umpires launch and said afterwards "This was a great win. I'm delighted that the club has at last produced a Henley medallist and tremendous credit is due both to Phil and his coach, Tom Jost."

Maidenhead's last Henley medal win had also been in the Fawley cup in 1994 when Ben Webb won in a composite crew with The Windsorian Rowing Club. John Gelling, another Maidenhead rower, also won the Fawley Cup in 1998 competing for Claires Court School in a composite with Windsor Boys School.

Two other crews featuring Maidenhead scullers also competed for the Fawley Cup this year. Adam Lilley pre-qualified in a composite crew with Marlow RC but lost in the first round to Windsor boys in a very close race with a verdict of 1/3 length. A young all-Maidenhead quad consisting of Ross McCoriston, Tim Wildbore, George Poynter and Robert Ashburner won a place in the competition by qualifying in a time trial the previous week. At the regatta they had a good race against Evesham RC in the first round but lost in a close race. It was a good experience for the crew all of whom have another two years in the event and Robert Ashburner who is still 14, has another potential four years in the event.

Former Maidenhead junior also wins at Henley
Rob Williams, a former Maidenhead RC junior rower and now a student in London, also won at Henley on Sunday. Rowing in the 2 seat in the Men's Quadruple Sculls competition in a Leander/London RC composite crew, Rob's crew (average weight 11st 3lbs) won a hard fought contest against a substantially bigger and heavier Tideway Scullers crew (average weight 14st 4 lbs) containing the world indoor rowing champion. Leading by over length coming past the enclosures, Rob's crew fought off a determined sprint by Tideway Scullers to win by half a length.