Boat Club Triumph at Indoor Championships

On Saturday 9^th December, members of the King’s Worcester Boat Club travelled to the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham to compete in the British Rowing Indoor Championships.

The competition was fierce, with schools and clubs from all over the country descending on the NEC. Our individual athletes started the day, with Mr Hemming leading the charge in his 2000 metre event before Josh L and Jack D also raced over the same distance in the Sixth Form Boys’ category, while we had four Year 10 boys racing in the five-minute event.

The 500 metre sprint events in the afternoon saw King’s with many top-ten finishes, but the highlight of this round came with our Year 11 boys and some thrilling races, culminating in King’s taking all three podium places after Luke M covered the distance in one minute and 25.2 seconds, just 0.4 seconds ahead of Ben G, with Bentley L claiming third.

The day concluded with the excitement and furious action of the relay races. Our two boys’ teams started well, and the team of Nick D, Josh L, Jack D and Luke M soon moved to the front of the race, battling with Shrewsbury School and The Grange School, Cheshire. The eight-minute race saw the might of these three teams move away from the large field, and it was apparent that this was where the medals would be fought out. Shrewsbury pulled ahead to secure the gold, with King’s in a titanic battle to hold off a late-charging Grange. The rowers surged to the finish and the results flashed up with King’s and The Grange both achieving 2747 metres and joint silver. Our Year 10 boys excelled, coming 7^th in the event among the Sixth Form competitors.

The Mixed Junior Relay was no less exciting, with four teams from King’s. It soon became clear that we had four very competitive teams, as they moved to the top of the leaderboard and, to make it even more exciting, a team from RGS did so also. The lead changed repeatedly throughout the competition between our White and Red teams, along with RGS, as each team alternated their rowers and powered to the line. Ultimately, the RGS team took the event with a final stint, rowing just eight metres further to a total of 2534 metres over the eight minutes. The King’s teams were outstanding, taking silver and bronze medals, along with fourth and fifth places.

The event is a great lead into our Charity Row on Friday night (you can support the rowers in raising funds for Acorns Childrens’ Hospice HERE) and then our own Indoor Championships, where we host clubs and schools from across the region on Sunday 14^th January.

Results:

Masters’ 2000 metres: Mr Hemming, 13^th.

Sixth Form Boys’ 2000 metres: Josh L, 11^th , and Jack D, 21^st.

Year 10 Boys’ 5 minutes: Freddie B, 11^th; Freddie G, 13^th; Alex Mc, 17^th and Dylan L, 18^th.

Year 10 Boys’ 500 metres: Lucas C, 8^th.

Year 10 Girls’ 500 metres: Lauren H, 13^th.

Year 11 Boys’ 500 metres: Luke M, GOLD; Ben G, SILVER; Bentley L; BRONZE; Charlie M-W, 7^th; Oliver R, 10^th; Tom P, 15^th;; Seb Mc, 22^nd.

Year 11 Girls’ 500 metres: Jasmine S, 10^th; Jess M, 11^th.

Sixth Form Boys’ 500 metres: Nick D, 12^th; Harry W, 18^th; Jacob S, 23^rd.

Junior Boys 8-minute relay: Nick D, Josh L, Jack D, Luke M: SILVER; Freddie G, Freddie B, Alex Mc, Lucas C: 7^th

Junior Mixed 8-minute relay: Red: Freddie H, Harry W, Amelia V, Rebecca N: SILVER; Sam E, Tom W, Ellie N, Posie F: BRONZE; Bentley L, Jacob S, Jasmine S, Jess M: 4^th; Jude A, Elliott B, Issy G, Ellie C – 5^th.