By Mr McEwen (Assistant Head Rowing Coach)

On Sunday 30th November, BGS headed to Wallingford Fours & Eights Head. We had four crews entered, two senior 8s and two J15 8s. This race is a time trial over a 4km upstream course on the Thames, the same stretch of water that Oxford University Boat Club trains on. This year was the first time this race has been able to run since 2022 due to flooding, but luckily the rain showers on Saturday weren’t heavy enough to cause the event organisers any trouble. Although the weather was cold, the sun was shining most of the day and there was almost no wind, perfect conditions for a fair race. 

The start list contained some really strong crews, including boats from all three schools that medalled in last year's National Schools Regatta championship eights final. So, this was a great opportunity to test our speed early in the season. The river at Wallingford can be tricky to steer at times and there are very few landmarks to work off of, so with all rowers and coxes racing here for the first time they all performed extremely well. The 1st VIII came 3rd in their category, only 3 seconds off of 2nd place. The 2nd VIII came 6th out of the other senior 2nd 8s in attendance at the event. 

Our J15 crews were in mixed boats and came 9th & 10th in their category. The J15s are still early into their journey of learning to sweep, so it was a tough race against some more experienced crews, but they showed good progression from their last race and can hopefully continue the pace of their development through the rest of the winter season.

Overall, it was a successful day out with valuable experience gained. As always, many thanks to the supporters that made it out to cheer on our crews. We now look forward to our next race, Star New Year Head on Sunday 11th January.