From the 30th November to 1st December, Clare Hall Boat Club participated in the 2024 AISL Harrow Rowing Regatta in Hengqin, China. CHBC was strongly represented by the club’s senior men’s crew, who secured a hard-fought 5th rank (out of 11 crews) over two exciting 1000m races. This is the first international racing experience that CHBC has participated in.

Read more about the exciting experience below, written by two members of the crew, Juan Rodriguez-Molina and Peter Kirwan.

After successful 2024 Lents and May Bumps campaigns, and a very active summer, November saw Clare Hall Boat Club set off for its most ambitious competition yet – participating in the second annual Harrow Tinmuk Rowing Regatta in Henqin, China!

Our journey began in September with an invitation from former visiting fellow Prof Janny Leung of the University of Macau to participate in the regatta, and crew selection among current and former CHBC rowers. Soon our senior men’s VIII crew began a committed eight-week training programme in Cambridge, coming together as a team to further develop our rowing skills and overall strength and stamina. Stepping onto the plane to Hong Kong we felt a mix of excitement and nerves for the challenge ahead.

After arriving in Hong Kong and a couple of relaxing days in Macau, we made our way to the Tinmuk Rowing Park where we rigged the boat, made a visit to the hosting AISL Harrow school, and carefully strategised our race plan. On race day, we faced off in the first 1000m heat against formidable crews from Yale and Tsinghua University, among others, crossing the line with a time of 2:48.25. For our second heat we agreed to “throw everything we had left at it” and successfully held and solidified our overall 5th rank in our division. The event was a fantastic opportunity to share our collective rowing experiences with crews from around the world, with good sportsmanship, and many curious students who wanted their picture taken with us.

Left: Rigging the boat at Tinmuk Rowing Club. Right: The Clare Hall crew rowing in Hengqin.

With the main regatta complete the Clare Hall and Yale University crews were then invited to a coastal rowing event on the idyllic Dong’Ao island in Zhuhai. Coastal rowing (coming to the 2028 Olympics) was brand new to us – with most of the crew never having taken up sculling oars on the river, let alone the sea! Regardless, we had just a couple of hours before sunset to perfect the “beach dash” and 500m zig-zag rowing course. The next morning brought a face-off in the singles, men’s pairs, and mixed pairs divisions. Despite some hard-fought races ultimately the more experienced Yale crew succeeded, with Clare Hall as respectable runners-up.

CHBC racing in the Dong’Ao Coastal Rowing Regatta, Zhuhai.

The Clare Hall crew who competed in China represented all the best qualities of the college, and we were proud to compete and hold our own among the ranks of much larger University crews. The trip was also a very valuable and unique cultural experience. We hope that our adventure will inspire former, current, and future boat club members to get out and experience rowing around the world!

The Clare Hall crew at the Tinmuk Rowing Park. Left to right: Tara Qu (cox), Peter Kirwan (stroke), Juan Rodriguez-Molina (7), Nicolas Spiesshofer (6), Alex Ferriera (5), Kailen Patel (4), Ivan Rodriguez-Perez (3), Simeon Hatzopoulos (2), Cory Aitchison (bow).