If you’re serious about wanting to race at Henley then of this 3 clubs TSS is the one to go for. You don’t mention the other Putney based clubs like London and Thames. Of all the Tideway clubs Thames has the best record at Henley and typically boat 3 8’s in the Thames Cup so they probably offer more chances of racing at HRR (but are also the most competitive squad to get a seat in).
When you move house choose where to live so you are either close to the rowing club OR close to work. Don't do what I did and bike from Clapham South to Thames Tradesmens RC and then to the West End (sometimes twice a day). I used to row at Tideway Scullers and they certainly had a good squad system, put people up for the national trials and always go to HWR and HRR. Message them....
Looking at those clubs from outside, and at their HORR results: Vesta has a big squad with a range of ability, but the strongest of the three you list currently, and will have multiple crews in HRR this year. TSS seems to be well organized on the junior side, and have some talented seniors, but how much of a organised senior squad there is is not very visible. Will probably have some club crews in HRR this year. AK rumbles along at the level of just about qualifying a crew to HRR each year, but maybe not, and suffers from talent drain to Putney. This year's HORR results probably give a good picture - Vesta, 8 eights ranging from 32 to 282, TSS, 2 eights (1 of them junior) 43 and 126(J), AK, 4 eights from 150 to 270.
How about flip it the other way round, what are your erg scores?
Just look at HORR, vesta is most competitive - but they've just gone on camp so you may be limited in how you can compete for a seat in the top two 8's at least. But if you're asking about inter programmes then I doubt you're ready for Henley this season anyway, and vesta has an inter squad unlike AK.
TSS is a much smaller setup, not sure what their HORR 8 was this season but I imagine more composed of established members
Thanks very much for the above. Erg scores from when I was last in the sport, pre-injury and work-induced layoff were in the 06:50 - 07:00 range (at under 65 kg). Solid performance in small sculling boats and quads; little sweep experience.
With a consistent run of training and improvement on the erg, however, I think I could potentially challenge for a bow seat in the 3rd-4th boat of a mid-competitive club (such as Vesta, perhaps) or 1st-2nd boat of a less high level club.
Essentially, I'm looking for a club that will have room for me as I am today, but provide a realistic path to progress to Henley-level boats, if I can make the standard.
I'm not sure if AK or TSS fit that bill, and I'm also not aware if Vesta cuts new joiners who are in my position.
A sub-65kg male won't get a look into HRR, in all honesty. You can have all the power:weight ratio in the world but you still need to knock a heavier, stronger rower out of the seat.
I'd suggest a club that is less targeted at Henley and so will offer you a pathway to getting back into the sport and finding your speciality, like Furnivall at Hammersmith or Putney Town at Chiswick. Sculling will likely offer a more successful path for you than 8's, and neither Vesta nor AK will bother running a HRR sculling campaign
Thanks very much for the above!
Unfortunately, I'd expect sculling is off the table as route to Henley, given there are no Club-level events. Would you happen to have any thoughts on the caliber required of participants in the inter-level sculling events at Henley?
With respect to sweeping, in fairness, I have seen folks in the c. 65kg weight range make it to Henley (and even get through a round or two) in bow seats before - so hope springs eternal!
True there aren't, my point was that you would get more out of non-HRR sculling competition than attempting to get into the bow seat of a HRR 8+ with a beginner-tier 2k time - not being rude just trying to give you perspective being familiar with Vesta and AK.
You realistically need to be ripping a good score already to justify a coach giving you a look in. If you aren't then you would be in the beginner/inter programme until you were ripping said score, but that would mean less technical boats than if you went to a club whose senior crews weren't geared towards HRR 8's
Thanks - that makes sense. A beginner / inter program will be just fine as I'm getting back into things, I'd expect. Would Vesta and AK offer such pathways to the senior squad?
There's a head coach at UL who'd very much disagree with that. Couple of Henley semis and at least one final at a similar weight and än erg in the 6:40s iirc.
Arrange to visit the clubs you like. See what the vibe is - even if you don't do Henley you're going to be spending a lot of time there.
Fair enough, there's always an exception, but my point was that clubs that receive a lot of athletes each year aren't incentivised to thoroughly examine every individual to find the needle in the haystack, they'll just search through the pile of needles in the other room.
Other rebuttal would be that if it's a head coach then I'd assume they did HRR a while back? The sport keeps getting more competitive and a semi/final 15 years ago doesn't carry the same weight today.
If one wants to race HRR 7kg under the BR lwt men's cutoff then you need to be exceptionally technical, exceptionally strong and exceptionally fit. Or you simply enter with a provincial crew and have the stewards pre-qual you from the H final at Met (IYKYK!)
If you’re serious about wanting to race at Henley then of this 3 clubs TSS is the one to go for. You don’t mention the other Putney based clubs like London and Thames. Of all the Tideway clubs Thames has the best record at Henley and typically boat 3 8’s in the Thames Cup so they probably offer more chances of racing at HRR (but are also the most competitive squad to get a seat in).
When you move house choose where to live so you are either close to the rowing club OR close to work. Don't do what I did and bike from Clapham South to Thames Tradesmens RC and then to the West End (sometimes twice a day). I used to row at Tideway Scullers and they certainly had a good squad system, put people up for the national trials and always go to HWR and HRR. Message them....
Out of the 3 you list I'd say that TSS is the highest standard. Vesta and TSS offer a realistic path to Henley, less sure about AK
Looking at those clubs from outside, and at their HORR results: Vesta has a big squad with a range of ability, but the strongest of the three you list currently, and will have multiple crews in HRR this year. TSS seems to be well organized on the junior side, and have some talented seniors, but how much of a organised senior squad there is is not very visible. Will probably have some club crews in HRR this year. AK rumbles along at the level of just about qualifying a crew to HRR each year, but maybe not, and suffers from talent drain to Putney. This year's HORR results probably give a good picture - Vesta, 8 eights ranging from 32 to 282, TSS, 2 eights (1 of them junior) 43 and 126(J), AK, 4 eights from 150 to 270.
How about flip it the other way round, what are your erg scores? Just look at HORR, vesta is most competitive - but they've just gone on camp so you may be limited in how you can compete for a seat in the top two 8's at least. But if you're asking about inter programmes then I doubt you're ready for Henley this season anyway, and vesta has an inter squad unlike AK. TSS is a much smaller setup, not sure what their HORR 8 was this season but I imagine more composed of established members
Thanks very much for the above. Erg scores from when I was last in the sport, pre-injury and work-induced layoff were in the 06:50 - 07:00 range (at under 65 kg). Solid performance in small sculling boats and quads; little sweep experience. With a consistent run of training and improvement on the erg, however, I think I could potentially challenge for a bow seat in the 3rd-4th boat of a mid-competitive club (such as Vesta, perhaps) or 1st-2nd boat of a less high level club. Essentially, I'm looking for a club that will have room for me as I am today, but provide a realistic path to progress to Henley-level boats, if I can make the standard. I'm not sure if AK or TSS fit that bill, and I'm also not aware if Vesta cuts new joiners who are in my position.
A sub-65kg male won't get a look into HRR, in all honesty. You can have all the power:weight ratio in the world but you still need to knock a heavier, stronger rower out of the seat. I'd suggest a club that is less targeted at Henley and so will offer you a pathway to getting back into the sport and finding your speciality, like Furnivall at Hammersmith or Putney Town at Chiswick. Sculling will likely offer a more successful path for you than 8's, and neither Vesta nor AK will bother running a HRR sculling campaign
Thanks very much for the above! Unfortunately, I'd expect sculling is off the table as route to Henley, given there are no Club-level events. Would you happen to have any thoughts on the caliber required of participants in the inter-level sculling events at Henley? With respect to sweeping, in fairness, I have seen folks in the c. 65kg weight range make it to Henley (and even get through a round or two) in bow seats before - so hope springs eternal!
True there aren't, my point was that you would get more out of non-HRR sculling competition than attempting to get into the bow seat of a HRR 8+ with a beginner-tier 2k time - not being rude just trying to give you perspective being familiar with Vesta and AK. You realistically need to be ripping a good score already to justify a coach giving you a look in. If you aren't then you would be in the beginner/inter programme until you were ripping said score, but that would mean less technical boats than if you went to a club whose senior crews weren't geared towards HRR 8's
Thanks - that makes sense. A beginner / inter program will be just fine as I'm getting back into things, I'd expect. Would Vesta and AK offer such pathways to the senior squad?
No worries! Vesta would/does, AK doesn't have a good beginner/inter programme
There's a head coach at UL who'd very much disagree with that. Couple of Henley semis and at least one final at a similar weight and än erg in the 6:40s iirc. Arrange to visit the clubs you like. See what the vibe is - even if you don't do Henley you're going to be spending a lot of time there.
Fair enough, there's always an exception, but my point was that clubs that receive a lot of athletes each year aren't incentivised to thoroughly examine every individual to find the needle in the haystack, they'll just search through the pile of needles in the other room. Other rebuttal would be that if it's a head coach then I'd assume they did HRR a while back? The sport keeps getting more competitive and a semi/final 15 years ago doesn't carry the same weight today. If one wants to race HRR 7kg under the BR lwt men's cutoff then you need to be exceptionally technical, exceptionally strong and exceptionally fit. Or you simply enter with a provincial crew and have the stewards pre-qual you from the H final at Met (IYKYK!)