Claires Court School quad reel in US champions to lift Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup

In a year which saw the Henley Royal Regatta host more international crews than ever before, there was still some home-grown success thanks to the performances of Claires Court School's junior women's quad and Windsor Boys' School's quads.

Both Windsor Boys' School quads reached the final of the Fawley Challenge Cup, with the A team overcoming the B team to lift the trophy, while Claires Court's girl’s quad of Jemimah Donn, Hannah Hickson, Nuala MacFarlane and Rebecca Donn finished two thirds of a length clear of US National champions, Redwood Scullers, to lift the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup on Sunday.

Lifting the trophy was quite a feat for the girl’s team, who had stormed to victory over holders, Shiplake College by half a length in Saturday's semi-final.

It's only the second time that Claires Court have ever qualified a girl’s crew for the regatta, and they had to overhaul some pretty impressive crews to get their hands on the trophy.

In the semi-final they pulled away from holders Shiplake to set up a final against Redwood Scullers, a crew who hadn't lost a race in 12 months and claim to being the fastest crew in the USA and Canada.

Jemimah Donn also became the youngest person to ever win the event at just 15-years-old. She's set to go into year 11 at the school next year while her sister, Rebecca, who celebrated her 17th birthday on the day of the final, will be going into year 13.

Nuala, also 17, has received a rowing scholarship at the University of Minnesota while Hannah, 18, is also travelling to the States to study at Brown University.

Tom Jost, head of rowing at Claires Court School, said: “The first two rounds were a little more convincing, and then against Shiplake, the holders from last year, we knew it was going to be a tough one.

“That was a good ding-dong, they took the lead early on and then the girls caught them up and rowed through.

“In the final on Sunday, the Americans went out like a rocket and the girls kept close to them and moved through in the closing 500m, which was amazing.

“Jemimah Donn, at bow, has not even been rowing a year, she's only 15-years-old, and her sister, Rebecca, was celebrating her 17th birthday yesterday (Sunday) so it was a nice present for her.”

In winning Sunday's final, Claires Court School became the first school to lift both the Fawley Challenge Cup and Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup for both boys’ and girls’ crews, while they were also the only British Junior Women's crew to reach a final at this year's regatta.

The Prince Philip Challenge Cup - for junior women's eights - was contested between St Catharine’s of Australia and Winter Park of the USA.

Overall, it was a successful year for the school with 17 Claires Court pupils qualifying for the regatta, the most ever, contesting three competitions, the girl’s quad in the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup, the boy’s quad in the Fawley Challenge Cup and the boys eight in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup.

The boys' quad reached the semi-finals of the Fawley Cup before bowing out to Windsor Boys School, but this was still a huge achievement, having beaten GB national silver medallists, Leander Club on the Friday, and a strong crew from Henley Rowing Club on Thursday.

Three of the school's alumni were also victorious, with Jake Wincomb winning the Temple Challenge Cup for Oxford Brookes University, Ollie Costley winning the Prince of Wales Challenge Cup for Leander Club and Tom Ballinger winning the Ladies Plate Challenge Cup, also for Leander Club.