Brookes rowers beat ‘The Bore’ in Severn race

Brookes rowers came top once again this Sunday after smashing the competition in the “Outrow” race on the River Severn. 

The race, in Gloucestershire, saw eight teams competing to outrun the famous Severn Bore, an annual tidal wave which races upriver at speeds of up to 18mph.

The winner is the first team to reach 5km or the last one to be eaten up by the bore.

Brookes smashed the other seven teams, which included UWE, UCL and Newcastle, as well as international competitors from Zurich, Belgium and Hong Kong.

The other British teams made up the bottom three spots on the results table while Brookes topped it.

Winner winner chicken dinner

The Brookes crew of Morgan Bolding, Matt Hnatiw, James Stanhope, Mike Glover and Harry Brightmore coxing went into the event with heavy expectations after a win the year before.

Despite none of the crew being part of last year’s winning team they still mastered the event.

Speaking to The Tab afterwards Harry said: “Our plan was to sprint out the blocks as hard as we could.”

This plan worked perfectly for the Brookes boys but less well for the team from UWE as they clashed within the first few strokes with the Seeclub Zurich boat, causing them to be swallowed up by the boar first.

UWE surrounding the Brookes boys

The race has the added fear factor of the powerful wave, which Harry says can: “knock a thin rowing boat way out of control”.

Brookes claimed the victory by staving off the wave for the longest, eventually being caught at the 4.5km mark, 13 minutes and 42 seconds after setting off.

Their victory means they retain the crown they won in the inaugural Outrow event last year.