As the Vesta Scullers Head is cancelled in 2024 ‘due to an administrative impasse that means the required river closure will not be in place‘, many of you will miss out on your first competitive event of the season. So, to get you in the mood for your next race, let’s reminisce on some notable wins from the last five years and what else those athletes have been up to.
Winning two years in a row, we have Sebastian Devereux, originally from Marlow Rowing Club but competing in the instantly recognisable pink of Leander at the time of his wins. In 2019 and 2021 (with no race being held in 2022) he stormed the field to take home gold medals in the championship single with his first win a narrow one by five seconds over Thomas Smith of Imperial College. With multiple Henley Royal Regatta wins, he has since competed in three World Rowing Cups and a European Rowing Championships in both doubles and quads for Great Britain. Before his winning streak at Vesta’s Scullers Head, he had multiple junior and U23 appearances, including a noteworthy double which was 0.23 seconds off a World Best Time in the semifinal and went on to win the final. This suggests that perhaps Scullers Head is the place to be for those racing at and aiming for international competitions.
Not to be outdone by his older brother, Miles Devereux, who also represented Leander at the Scullers Head, went on to win the U23 single; an impressive feat made even more spectacular by the fact that he was third overall at the age of 21. 2022 was a hugely successful year for Miles; alongside his win at the Scullers Head, he also claimed two BUCS Regatta golds for Oxford Brookes in the eight and the single. To top off this triumph, he competed at his first U23 World Rowing Championships, having already had a taste of international racing at the European Rowing Championships in 2021.
Jessica Leyden, also from Leander, won the women’s championship single in 2021 by 12 seconds over Katherine Mole, who would go on to win the following year. She remains one of Great Britain’s most talented exports, consistently competing for Team GB at international level. She raced twice at the World Rowing Junior Championships in 2011 and 2012 in the quad before becoming the first ever British woman to win an international single sculls title when she took gold at the World Rowing Junior Championships in 2013. After just one year on the U23 team, she joined the senior squad for the 2015 season, placing very well at the European Rowing Championships and World Rowing Championships in the quad. She continued racing internationally, missing the senior podium until 2017 when she won bronze medals at the latter two events after a season disrupted by injury. She wound up a decorated rowing career in 2022 by claiming bronze at the World Rowing Championships as part of the British quad.
Jamie Copus won last year’s Scullers Head for Oxford Brookes. He also has a pervasive list of international achievements, having represented Great Britain at every age level whilst winning medals at both the World Rowing Junior and U23 Championships. As a lightweight athlete competing in the championship category, he successfully defeated the winner of the corresponding single by almost a minute. His GB debut came at the 2010 Coupe de la Jeunesse in Belgium, where he was part of the men’s four and won two gold medals; he also competed at the World Junior Championships the following year and gained his third international medal (silver) at just 18 years of age. As of this season, Jamie is the new head coach for Fordham men’s crew in New York, so it will be exciting to see what success he generates over in the States. Since Scullers Head, he competed at the Head of the Charles in the double, claiming a silver medal and has raced at Henley Royal Regatta Royal for Oxford Brookes on several occasions. What is next for Copus remains to be seen – his switch to US colours did not yield the Olympic representation he may have been seeking but there is still time for that to change.
Extra Mention
This athlete may not have been racing championship level but Phillip Wolfensberger of St Paul’s School not only won the junior single in 2023 but placed seventh overall, beating the U23 and senior winner. He is now plying his trade at Stanford University.
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