After a frustrating start to the term with flood conditions and high river speeds which kept us off the water for some weeks, it has been good to get back on the river in preparation for the main winter season head races. We took most of the boat club to Avon Spring Head at the start of March, and there was plenty of evidence that the tough land training had paid off, with seven category victories out of the 13 events entered; our best result for many years. To beat some big name schools such as Winchester College, Canford and Bryanston School as well as a number of clubs was very encouraging.

In the last week of term, the two big events of the school head racing calendar took place. On Tuesday the Schools Head in London took place, with over 300 crews racing the 4 mile distance from Chiswick to Putney, the reverse of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race course. All our crews finished in the top 20 of their events, the 1st VIII, who were fresh from competing in the Head of the River Race last Saturday, had a better row on Tuesday to finish 15th, the Girls Quad finishing 18th, the Mixed VIII finishing 5th, the J15 boys VIII finishing 10th and the J15 girls VIII finishing 4th.

On the last Wednesday of term we went to Dorney Lake for the National Sculling Head where nearly 600 crews raced over the course of the day. The girls senior quad rowed well to finish 15th, the girls J14 octo finished in a very pleasing 13th and the boys J14 quads finished 36th and 11th.

This sets us up nicely for a summer regatta season once the Easter training camps have taken place. The seniors and J15s are currently in Ghent, Belgium racing at Ghent International Regatta, and the J14s are training in Pangbourne in the final week of the holidays.

~ Richard Follett (Deputy Head, Co-Curriculum)