On Saturday 27^th February, the 1^st VIII travelled to Reading for their first race of the calendar year.

As the 4^th oldest head race in Britain, its heritage attracted a field of strong crews from the likes of Oxford Brookes University, Leander Club and the University of London. More importantly for the school-boys though was the multitude of school crews from the likes of St Pauls School, Radley, Bedford School and many others. The 4.9km event also lived up to its reputation with icy-cold conditions and a strong headwind which made the day all the more challenging.

Racing in the afternoon in more challenging conditions, the crew of Evan, Rory, Harris, Harry, Digby, Charlie, Jack, James and Sam, performed admirably with a time of 15:22. This was within touching distance of crews such as Windsor Boys School and Bedford School, close competition for the rest of the season no doubt. The 1^st VIII also managed to overtake a crew entered from Canford School, traditionally a competitive rival school for Monmouth.

The row and its accompanying result are very promising, especially with the absence of Archie, a returning 1^st VIII rower from last year who is out of training with a back injury, and also the lack of water-training due to recent river conditions. The crew will now look towards the Schools’ Head of the River Race on Thursday 17^th March which will be the most important event of the year so far and the final race of the head season.