Henley awaits for impressive 1st VIII

June 24, 2019

The Rowing Club had a very busy weekend as we approach the climax of rowing in the summer term. On Saturday the 1st VIII raced at Marlow Regatta on Dorney Lake. Having been deemed by the organisers as too good to enter the school eights event, they found themselves in Championship Eights, racing against the fastest senior crews in the country, such as Leander Club and Oxford Brookes University. In a strong headwind they came second in the C Final and can now look forward to final preparation for Henley Royal Regatta. The first round is on Wednesday, with a live stream on YouTube for those interested in following the crew. After term finishes all of the crew are trialling either for Wales or Great Britain and we are sure to have a strong international representation later in the summer.

On Sunday, the younger boys travelled to Thames Valley Park in Reading for a long day of racing from 9 in the morning to 7 in the evening. There were excellent performances from all the J14 and J15 crews with lots of second places and ‘very nearly’ wins – most notably the J14 Octo missing out by just 1/3rd of a length and one of the J15 fours by a nail-biting two feet! We had to wait to the final race of the day and the final race of the season for the J16 VIII who have had an excellent but frustrating year. Having just missed out in the final of the fours earlier in the day, the VIII were determined to finish in style and indeed they did. A blistering start left the other crews floundering in their wake and with the rate not dropping below 41, they won convincingly to finally collect their first pots of the season.