It was medals galore last week for our rowers as the Boat Club hit the river for the first major rowing event of the season – Schools' Head of the River Race.
It was brilliant to have five crews competing in London with many positive results. And, despite their event being cancelled at Schools’ Head, our J15 crews still raced at Dorney Lake in a stand-alone event hosted by Eton.
At the Schools' Head event, it was am extremely successful afternoon for our senior VIIIs with all three crews - the boy's and girls' Championship VIIIs, and the boys' 2nd VIII - taking home medals. The girls' Championship VIII narrowly missed out on the gold medal, finishing 2nd and a marginal 1.2s behind Headington School while the boys' Championship VIII were left rueing catching a buoy early in their run to finish second as well. For the 2nd VIII, the crew took home bronze medals to add to the collection of silverware.
Director of Rowing, Mr Currie, writes:
‘It was fantastic to finally get out and race after countless Heads being cancelled this winter due to the high water levels. On the day of the Schools' Head, we were blessed with the warmest day in March on record and spring was definitely in the air. Given the preparation we have had for this race, I'm really pleased with the results from our team. To finish 2nd in the boys’ and girls' Championship VIIIs really shows the strength of our co-ed rowing programme.
Our second boats also produced strong results and with the boys’ 2nd VIII gaining a bronze medal and the girls’ quad finishing 7th., this really shows the strength of our programme and the depth that we possess at a senior level. The J16 boys moved up six places from last year to finish 9th in the J16 Championship 8s and they now have extra motivation to push on as we approach the regatta season.
The J15 event at the Schools' Head was cancelled due to the fast-flowing water on the tideway, but Eton held a race for them at Dorney Lake. The J15 A boat finished 6th amongst the J15 1st VIIIs and the J15 B boat finished 10th in the 2nd VIII event. It was great for them to be able to race and gain experience as every race they have entered this year has been cancelled.’
The success did not stop at Schools’ Head, however. Two days later, at the Sculling Head, the medals kept coming in for our J18 Girls’ Quad and J17 Boys’ Quad.
On the Sculling Head, Mr Currie says:
‘With very little thought and no training sessions, we entered the Sculling Head at Dorney Lake. This event was held two days after Schools’ Head of the River. The crews did a fantastic job which demonstrated the quality of their land training throughout the winter. The girls’ J18 Quad took silver and the J17 boys Quad won gold with a time that also placed them 2nd amongst the J18 Quads. The girls J17 Quad finished 10th and the J14 Octuple, in their first ever race, did a great job to finish 17th out of 30 crews which, given the number of water sessions they have done, is fantastic and I hope they are excited to race in the summer.’
Well done to the following pupils for their fantastic efforts over the week:
- SHORR Boys’ CH VIII: J Duggan, E Galer, W Harper, A Rhys Jones, J Meiswinkel, B Brooks, I Dean, C Wallis, M Walker (cox)
- SHORR Girls’ CH VIII: A Parker, E Over, A Westbrook, E Downing, K Proudlove, S Foreman, A Merritt, L Vahlé, O Joiner (cox)
- SHORR Boys’ 2nd VIII: K Critchley, O Nash, T Weighell, A Heading, J Barnes, O Smee, H Day Clark. E Houghton, C Watkins (cox)
- SHORR Girls’ Quad: S McDavid, E Flieger, E Rootkin-Gray, F Dallas
- SHORR J16 VIII: E Jones, R Campbell, W Tavinor, I Powell, O Bennett, F Coultas, C Rees, R Evans, B Loggie (cox)
- Sculling Head Girls’ U18 Quad: E Over, E Downing, A Merritt, S Foreman
- Sculling Head Boys’ J17 Quad: H Day Clark, A Rhys-Jones, I Dean, J Barnes
- Sculling Head Girls’ J17 Quad: E Rootkin-Gray, S Syed, A Hutton, F Dallas
- Sculling Head Boys’ J14 Octo: J Swankie, E Grubb, T Sharp, J Calow, A Lee, B Maskell, S Lee, B Maggs, P Newton (cox)
Flickr album: Schools Head of the River 2024 |
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