WORLD U19 medal rower Violet Holsbrow-Brooksbank secured back-to-back Henley Women's Regatta junior quadruple sculls titles with her Wycliffe crew on Sunday.
The former Monmouth Comprehensive School pupil’s boat have swept all before them this season and will go to Henley Royal Regatta this week full of confidence for their campaign to lift the biggest prize of them all,
In March they doubled up with dominant wins in the Schools' Head over the reverse Boat Race course in London, followed by Junior Sculling Head victory on the 2012 Olympic lake.
At the end of last month, they added the National Schools' title, also on the Olympic track, before returning to the course a week later to win the women’s elite quads at the Metropolitan Regatta, beating two senior Leander Club quads in the process.
And they proved unstoppable back on the Thames, winning the 1500m head-to-head Henley Women’s junior girls’ final from Marlow RC by 13 seconds – more than five lengths.
They began their campaign to retain the Bea Langridge Trophy by heading the opening 33-boat time-trial by seven seconds from the same Marlow boat.
Wycliffe then cruised home 18 seconds ahead of Sir William Borlase in their opening heat to make the last eight, before beating Putney High School by 11 seconds on the Sunday morning.
Sir William Perkins were up next in the semi-final, but Violet and her crew mates Eliose Etherington, Mia Lowes and Lily Martin quickly took control, coming home seven seconds clear.
And then in the final in a statement of intent ahead of this week’s Royal Regatta – where Violet and her 2023 crew lost narrowly in last year’s final – they stormed home well clear of Marlow in 4 minutes 57.62 seconds, less than two seconds slower than the Championship-winning time set by a crew of senior GB rowers.
Violet’s boat face the winners of Aberdeen RC and Nottingham RC in their last-16 Diamond Jubilee Cup opening race on Thursday at the 185-year-old event, with all the races streamed live on its dedicated YouTube channel www.youtube.com/user/henleyroyalregatta.