Senior Girls secure 'tremendous' win at Wallingford Regatta

Over the coach weekend three Senior crews travelled to Dorney Lake to race at the Wallingford Regatta.

The 1st VIII raced in the Junior School Eights events which saw thirty crews competing in the heats and vying for a spot in the six-boat final. The winner from each heat went straight to the final with the next fastest seven crews going to the repechage where only one crew would make it through.

The crew were under pressure from the start in their heat as Kings College School, Wimbledon took an early lead. The two crews charged away from the chasing pack with never more than a few meters separating them down the course. Despite significant pressure from the 1st VIII KCS held on for the win. The two crews recorded the two fastest times from the heats. In the repechage the crew knew that only a win would be sufficient to earn them a spot in the final and despite another sluggish start they found their length and rhythm to move through the field and record an impressive win. In the final the crew put on a strong showing to challenge for a top three finish but didn’t have the legs left in the final sprint and had to settle for fifth.

The Senior Girls entered a coxed and coxless four into the Junior events. The Coxed Four came up against a field of twenty-four crews. They came third in their heat missing out on the automatic final spot but produced a good time to earn them a spot in the repechage. With two crews going through to the final from the repechage the girls knew they would need to up their game. They got out of the blocks quickly and had a terrific race with four other crews competing for the second qualifying spot. It was a definite improvement from the heat despite narrowly falling short of the A final.

The Senior Girls Coxless Four were keen to show the speed they had developed on the training camp in Spain. They lead their heat off the line strongly and put in a composed and controlled performance to win their heat and secure the one guaranteed slot through to the final. They lined up in the six-boat final as the favorites after their quick time. They expected for others to come at them and St Paul’s lead that charge with an impressive start to push to a three quarter of a length lead. The four held their nerve and rowed a perfectly judged race as their sustained attack slowly wore down the fast starting St Paul’s crew. In the closing two hundred meters of the race the girls took the lead and never looked back to secure a tremendous win.

Athol Hundermark

Master i/c Rowing