Chronicle April 2016

29 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Rowing By Peter Rudge, Master i/c Rowing

Eve Singfield

Cox Theo Norman ( Beaudesert Park ) drives the J14A VIII on at Abingdon

The first half of last term was affected by increasingly regular flooding but despite this the Boat Club enjoyed a very successful term culminating in the Schools’ Head and the Sculling Head in the last week of term. As our crews worked towards these final targets they were able to produce some really encouraging results. Our Shell boys had their customary fixture with Abingdon and came away with an overall fixture win while our Fourth Form VIIIs are extremely ambitious this year with both boys and girls finishing second in their events at Reading University Head. Our girls’ senior group have split their time between small boats and the VIII. A 3rd place at Reading University Head in the quad showed their increasing competitiveness while our two 1st VIIIs continually developed as the term progressed. The boys competed at the highest level all term with encouraging results at both Hampton and Reading University Heads. With these results behind them, it was clear that our crews would go to the Schools’ Head with a great deal of justified optimism and the crews did not disappoint; all finished inside the top ten in their events. Our 1st VIII achieved a fantastic 6th place, holding their position from last year. They were 1 second behind Abingdon but beat Hampton, Radley, Winchester and Shrewsbury amongst others. Our girls’ 1st VIII came 10th in girls’

Championship Eights, a really promising result in a tough event, while the J15 girls had a great row and came 7th, the best result a J15 girls’ VIII has achieved at the Schools’ Head. The boys J15 VIII had high hopes of a top three position but their row was hampered by a mid-race illness to one of the crew and they finished 8th. This was hugely creditable: they beat Abingdon, Shiplake and Eton amongst others and all effectively with seven men.

Following the Schools’ Head, it was the turn of a smaller group of crews to race at the National Sculling Head and the two standout performances of the day came from our Shell boys, who finished as the 13th fastest A crew, and the 8th fastest B crew in the country. With over 70 of our rowers in School, as I write, for a week of training before the racing begins in earnest, the Boat Club is in good health and the summer promises to be a very successful one.

Harriers

Training on the towpath