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St Peter’s School Boat Club
ANCHOLME HEAD
Ancholme Head is traditionally the start of our Head racing campaign and in previous years we have been blessed with good racing conditions. This year, however, we were reminded in no uncertain terms that the weather can be a hard task master. Persistent torrential rain made the simple task of staying warm a challenge. Undaunted by the exceptional conditions 33 pupils took to the water for the Boat Club’s first race of the year. There were good performances from both the Senior and Junior Squads who raced hard through the rain. Thomas Jacques and Giacamo Grelli won the J16 double sculls and Hannah Gowland, Rachael Green, Sophie Broughton and Holly Turnbull coxed by Natasha Johnston claimed the WJ15 coxed quads title. Sadly due to the unrelenting conditions we had to cut the racing short, but it was great to be racing again.
YORK SMALL BOATS HEAD
Ice on the steps greeted this year’s rowers as they gathered for the York Small Boats Head. However the conditions soon warmed up and so did the racing. The Senior boys were out in force and there were excellent performances from both the sculling and sweep boats. The St Peter’s J18 4x- Band 1 led the charge by winning their category and placed 3rd overall. The Open 4+ Band 2 and Open 4+ Band 3 also showed good progress by winning their categories with solid rows. The strongest performance came from the Open 4x- who whilst they did not take a category win sculled with maturity and recorded the second fastest time of the day ahead of the 330+ entries.
The J16 Boys also continued to make good progress in their quads and the J16 1x came very close to securing a win with a strong second place. Similarly the WJ15 2x put in their best race to date and eventually claimed third spot in a tough field. The boys J15 4x+ showed that they are beginning to make progress by taking the win in Band 2 and rounded off a good days racing for all our crews.
WHITE ROSE HEAD
Unfortunately this event was cancelled due to high river levels.
YORKSHIRE HEAD
During the half term holidays the Boat Club entered three scratch crews in the 5000m Yorkshire Head race. Despite not having trained together prior to the event all three crews performed well in good racing conditions. The open coxed 4 and the J18 eight both came second in their categories whilst the J18 coxless quad came fifth in their category. The Senior squad now turns its attention to preparing for the Schools Head of the River in London next week, whilst the Juniors are focusing on the Junior Sculling Head at Eton Dorney.
SCHOOLS HEAD OF THE RIVER RACE
The Schools Head of the River Race can throw up challenging conditions on the Tideway. This year the weather reports forced
the race organisers to withdraw all but the top Eights events the day before. This meant only the Boys development Eight travelled. The conditions at the start were blustery which whipped up the water for the first Kilometre and a half, but after that the course began to settle. The Eight maintained their focus despite being hit by several waves and being forced off the racing line by an inexperienced cox in another boat. A solid performance saw the Eight finish in the middle of their category.
JUNIOR SCULLING HEAD
St Peter’s crews arrived to find a sunny, flat water lake which was a much needed change from the torrent of rain and wind experienced on home water over the preceding weeks. The crews competed in the WJ14, J14, WJ15 and J15 Octuple events, which comprised two time trails combined into a total distance of 3600m.
The WJ15 Girls were the first to race in the morning shortly followed by the J15 Boys in the middle of the day. Both crews put in determined performances with the Girls finishing in 14th place and the Boys pushing through to seventh.
The afternoon events saw the WJ14 & J14 Octuples take to the water. For both of these crews this was the first time they had been away and raced at this world class venue. The Girls put in a determined and strong first half performance leaving them in 24th place after the first run. Unfortunately an equipment failure meant no time was taken on the return run. However they returned to the pontoons with smiles and tales of the amazing race. The J14 Boys also put in a good performance and gained valuable race experience. They finished in 40th place but more importantly began their racing careers with a positive attitude.
NORTH OF ENGLAND HEAD OF THE RIVER RACE
A small group of senior rowers made the trip across the Pennines to Chester and the North of England Head of the River Race. The Eight enjoyed the wide open River Dee and passed several crews just after the start before settling into a rhythm that eventually saw them win the Band 3 Open Eights.
ANNUAL TRAINING CAMP – ELY
We returned to Cambridge University BC Boathouse at Ely for our annual training camp with high hopes and were not disappointed. Once again the Fens were kind to us as we did not lose a single planned session. An initial group of 11 rowers powered through the first couple of days mixing seat racing with technical sessions. The opportunity was taken to put our Singles, Doubles, Quads and Eights to allow a full range of experiences. The initial group were joined later in the week by the J16 squad who immediately slotted into the punishing routine of three outings a day. Bonding took place in the evenings at the various pizza houses we visited in and around Ely which ensured everyone had a camp to remember.
YORK SPRING REGATTA
York Spring Regatta was the Boat Club’s first regatta of the season and a reminder that side by side racing is tough. The Fourth Form Boys and Girls raced well and reached several finals, but could just not quite find a win. The J16 Boys’ Quad, rowing in the J18 event, showed how much they have developed since the Easter training
camp by narrowly losing a close race by ¼ of a length in their semi-final. However, the J16 double went one better winning both J16 and J18 doubles events. The Senior Boys were also out in force in several categories. The quads showed good speed and hinted at more to come. In the sweep events the Eight’s first outing of the season set a platform to work from and develop hopefully along the lines of the winning Senior 4 that took the win in the Open event comfortably.
TEES REGATTA
Tees Regatta is a great event for St Peter’s Crews to race on a multi lane course one week before the National Schools’ Regatta. All our crews took full advantage to get in race practice. The J14 Girls and Boys gained valuable experience at their first ever regatta and put in excellent performances in the Coxed Quad and Octuple events. Both J15 Boys’ Quads got through to the finals and narrowly missed picking up some silverware. The J15 Girls also raced well in the Quads but saved their best race for the Eights event. In a straight final against Queen Elizabeth High School, Hexham they showed great determination and resilience, claiming the win by six feet.
As part of their preparations the seniors took the opportunity to test themselves by entering the Open events rather than the Junior events. Racing against more mature crews resulted in some close, tight racing. A plethora of second and third places was the result of some excellent performances in both the sculling and sweep boats.
NATIONAL SCHOOLS’ REGATTA
The National Schools’ Regatta held at Eton Dorney over three days is one of the highlights of the School rowing year and this year proved no exception. Bright blue skies and a slight tail wind provided the back drop for some top quality racing.
Friday saw the J15 Boys and Girls take to the water in the Quad events where large numbers of crews, 61 and 68 respectively, waited. Good rows from both the boys and girls crews showed how much improvement had been made but at this level unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough to progress beyond the time trials.
Saturday saw a step up in intensity. The Senior Boys were racing in three events, Championship Quads, 2nd Quads and Non
Championship Coxed Fours. Unfortunately the Championship Quad did not progress beyond the morning time trials despite recording the fastest St Peter’s time of the regatta. The 2nd Quad produced one of their best rows to date and were rewarded with qualification straight into the B final. As you would expect the B Final was every bit as competitive as the time trials and the Quad sculled with great determination to finish 4th, placing them 10th overall.
The Non Championship Coxed Four of Sam Gowland, Grayson Townend, Elliot Millman and Adam Dalton coxed by Claudia Freeman also produced a solid row in the time trial and earnt a place in the semi-finals. After a solid start the Four settled into a long smooth rhythm which they maintained down the track. A safe third place earnt them a well deserved berth in the much coveted A Final. The first 1,000m of the Final were over in an instant. All six crews were over lapping as they headed into the second half of the race. The St Peter’s Four held their length and rhythm and pushed on hard into the final stages of the race. As the finishing line approached small gaps began to appear as the field spread out. The final push saw the Four take a superb 6th place, agonisingly only a length and a half off the Bronze medal. It was a great race and a fitting end to our 2019 National Schools’ Regatta campaign.
YORK SUMMER REGATTA
The Boat Club enjoyed a great day of racing on home water at the York Summer Regatta. The J14 girls and boys squads continued their fledgling rowing careers with some good racing culminating in the Boys Oct reaching the final. After tussling with the crew from Yarm all the way down the course the Boys lost by a length and a half.
The J15 Girls and Boys were also out in strength and reached several finals. The girls unfortunately could just not quite get the win but the Boys raced well and took a two-length victory over Oundle School in the 8s final.
The Senior Boys used the regatta as a final warm up before heading down to the Henley Qualifying race this weekend. The Senior Boys 8 looked composed in the quarter and semi-finals before finally coming up against a much larger crew from St Aiden’s College Durham in the Open 8s. The race was decided by a concerted push on the bend from St Aiden’s who stretched out to a length’s lead and were never caught. The Senior Boys Quad racing in the open event however finished their warm in style. A comfortable twolength win over Trafford Rowing club in the semis was repeated with another two- length win over Durham Amateur in the final.
BRADFORD SPRINT REGATTA
Bradford has a lung busting 600 metres to overcome which the J14s and J15s attacked with gusto. All the Crews showed how much they have developed over the regatta season. The J14s shared the wins evenly between the boys and girls in the Singles, Doubles and Quads. The J15s also competed in many finals but it was the J15 boys Percy Hill and Will Reberio who completed a remarkable doubles double. Having secured the Doubles title last year they reformed again and beat York City in this year’s final by over a length.
HENLEY QUALIFIERS
The Senior Boys had an eventful journey down to Henley-onThames for the first time since 2016. All was progressing well until the M40 when the minibus developed a fault and forced us on to the hard shoulder. Two Highway Patrol vehicles soon arrived and escorted us to a nearby service station under flashing lights. Once there a fantastic rescue operation swung into action back at school and within three hours the defective minibus had been collected and a replacement coach had arrived to take us onward to Henley. Arriving with half an hour to boating was not what we planned but given everything we had been through were just thankful to be there. The Henley Qualifiers are a unique test over the famous regatta course and are an experience in themselves. Incredibly our senior boys Eight and Quad still performed well and took on the challenge with great determination. Unfortunately their speed could not match the speed of the other competitors and therefore they did not proceed any further.
READING TOWN REGATTA
Having suffered the disappointment of not qualifying for the Henley Royal Regatta, the following day, the Senior Boys immediately got back to racing at the Reading Town Regatta. Competition was from the UK as well as crews that have travelled from the USA and Australia who were preparing for their own appearances at Henley Royal Regatta. On the hottest day of the year to date the Senior Boys 8 took a win in the Band 2 School 8s before lining up against the Australian Defence Force Eight. The Australian Eight was in its final preparations to re-enact the 1919 peace regatta at Henley against seven other military crews from around the world. Unsurprisingly the military rowers proved too strong for us but it was an honour and a privilege to line up against them.
The Senior Quad also raced the Australian Defence Force Quad and beat them easily only to be undone by a very classy crew from Scotch College, Melbourne.
The Boat Club has enjoyed a successful season and is looking forward to a well earned break before returning with renewed enthusiasm for the 2019-20 season.
