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News > RGS Alumni News > RGS River Rowing Reunion

RGS River Rowing Reunion

RGS Rowers reunite to row and reminisce

On Sunday 1 September, an Alumni Rowing reunion was held at Worcester Rowing Club. Former pupil, Robert Inett describes the event below:

“We held a small reunion event on Sunday with my old crew-mates from RGS Worcester. This was RGS Worcester’s First Quad from 1999, the only RGS crew ever to win the quads event at the prestigious Marlow Regatta, beating crews from the USA, Australia and the UK in the process. Sadly, the crew drew the eventual winners at Henley, the then GB Junior Quad, in the first round and went home on day one instead of what was originally touted in the rowing press of the day as the likely final.

It has been a full 20 years since we were all together last, and we enjoyed a wonderful day, joined by Coaches Mike Vetch, Rob Gibson and RGS Old Boy Tim Beck (who left RGS Worcester in 1992) who was the first ever oarsman from the School to represent Great Britain. All of our families and parents also came down, and did what they used to do all those years ago and supported from the river bank in the sunshine! To be honest, it was like the time had not passed.

To say this was a trip down memory lane would be an understatement. I believe I am the only one of the crew to have rowed since we left University, having stopped in 2003 and picked it up again in 2016, so we were amazed at how well this reunion row went. The friendships formed back then at RGS Worcester are still strong.

Like many RGS rowers of their day, we have all kept in good touch with our coaches and mentors from back then and it was superb to have Mike Vetch and Rob Gibson both there to share stories and tales of our times messing about on the river.”

The crew of 1999 was:

(Bow) James Fletcher, studied at Oxford Brookes, now living in Inverness, working in Forestry and Land management. Represented Great Britain in Triathlon in 2004, 2007 and 2013.

(2) Rob Inett, studied at Loughborough, now living in Poole, Dorset, managing a small Building Company. Represented Wales in rowing 2001 and 2002, won Gold at World Masters in rowing in 2017.

(3) David Gilbert, studied at Loughborough, living back in Worcester and Construction Consultant. Represented England, Great Britain and Great Britain U23 in rowing.

(Stroke) Matthew Williams, studied at Cardiff, now living in Cardiff and is a Consultant Anaesthesiologist. Represented England and Great Britain in rowing.

 

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