The 2011 Wingfield's Is Coming Up

This photograph is showing Wally Kinnear’s Wingfield Scull medal with three bars for his victories in 1910, 1911, and 1912.

HTBS’s special London correspondent, Tim Koch, writes about the upcoming Wingfield’s,

The 171st Wingfield Sculls (The British Amateur Sculling Championship and Championship of the Thames) will take place on Thursday, 27 October 2011, over the ‘Championship Course’, Putney to Mortlake. My report on last year’s race gives the history of this special event, a ‘vision of glorious amateurism’, and explains why it is more than ‘just a battle of limb and lung size’.

The women’s race has three contenders. Anna Watkins is last years Wingfield’s Champion and winner of a bronze in the double sculls at the Beijing Olympics and gold in the doubles at the last two World Championships. Beth Rodford won a gold in the quadruple scull at the 2010 World’s and has won medals in various World Cup quad events. Ro Bradbury is the underdog, her best performance has been silver in the quad at the Munich World Cup.

Three-time-winner Alan Campbell will have another go at the Wingfield’s on 27 October.

The men’s race is between five contestants. Alan Campbell has won the Wingfield’s three times and is Britain’s leading single sculler having come first in the GB Senior Trials, 2005-2011. In the World Championships, he won bronze in 2010 and 2011 and silver in 2009. Tom Solesbury, an Oxford Blue and Henley winner, has qualified for the quad in the 2012 Olympics. Adam Freeman-Pask is a lightweight (rarely a good thing on the Thames Tideway) and has raced in the lightweight single in the World Championships, 2008-2011. Henry Pelly is a double Cambridge Blue and won the Stewards’ at Henley in 2008. Alan Sinclair won the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup (men’s intermediate quad sculls) at Henley this summer.

The two races will be umpired by Ellise Sherwell, the winner of the women’s race in 2007, and the prizes will be presented by the Lord Mayor of London elect, David Wootton. HTBS will, of course, be there and we hope to put some video of the races on the blog for all to view.