National Schools’ Regatta

Over the first weekend of the half term break, members of the Boat Club travelled to Dorney Lake to race at the prestigious National Schools’ Regatta.

The Olympic venue was transformed into a celebration of junior rowing, with over 5000 competitors from all over the United Kingdom converging on the lake. The banks were lined with enthusiastic spectators, marquees, food stalls, merchandise and rowing equipment to enhance the experience further for our rowers. The sun shone for all three days, but a tricky crosswind made for difficult conditions for those crews who drew an outside lane.

Friday saw our Upper Remove Rowers racing in coxed quad sculls, with two crews of each gender. Their first task was to secure a place in the coveted finals by performing well in the morning time trials; it was fantastic to have all our boats progressing into the finals. Our boys’ and girls’ 1^st Crews fought out the D-Finals at the front of the field, with both crews taking second place in their respective finals. The 2^nd Crews both made the C-Finals of their events, where they also raced well, with the girls winning their final and the boys coming third.

Saturday was the first day with our Fifth and Sixth Form athletes in action. The Fifth Form Girls’ Coxed Four progressed to the B-Final, where they took fifth place, while the Boys’ Coxed Four also claimed fifth in their C-Final. The Sixth Form Boys’ 2^nd Quad Sculls both went through to the C-Final from their time trial and raced well to take the win and fourth place respectively.

Our Championship Boys’ Quad Scull and Girls’ Eight raced at the National Schools’ Regatta over Saturday and Sunday in the new format. The boys faced a time trial in the morning and then a repechage in the afternoon. The repechage saw them drawn against local rivals, RGS, and the start of an epic battle over the weekend. The crews locked horns early in the race and shot to the line, with our boys crossing the line ahead, as was reflected in the time trial results. The Girls’ Eight found their own adversaries in Kew School, coached by OV Rufus Tilt. They went from a heat to the repechage, where Kew School just held the advantage by less than a second at every marker down the course and crossed the line less than a boat length ahead. The seniors then stayed overnight in preparation for their races on Sunday.

Sunday saw our Fifth Form Boys’ Quad Scull racing in their event, with a good showing in their time trial to progress to the B-Final. They raced the final well, in the strong sidewinds, coming fifth in a tight battle for places. Our Championship Boys’ Quad Scull faced the semi-final in the morning and fought well to claim a top spot in the D-Final, ensuring a good lane in the afternoon finale. RGS did likewise in their semi and set up the final with the crews beside each other. King’s got away quickly and led the field for the first half of the race, constantly under pressure from the others. RGS moved ahead with 500 metres to go and our boys, succumbing to fatigue after two days and almost 8000 metres of racing, had to settle for second place. The Girls’ Eight avoided racing in the morning and went to the B-Final in the evening, where they faced King’s Chester and Kew House. The battle between us and Kew ensured a great race, with Kew taking the initial advantage. By the half way point King’s had crept in front of them and swept over the line ahead by two seconds, just behind King’s Chester, to claim second place.

Thank you to all for the wonderful support along the bank and the terrific food supplied by parents to fuel our rowers. The crews’ performances were brilliant and a credit to all the wonderful pupils involved in the Boat Club.