Month: February 2017

On Sunday 26th February BMSBC raced at Nottingham Head of Trent.

The day started out with the first eight producing a very strong performance down the 6K course resulting in taking 1st place, by 9 seconds. Some of the squad moved into a coxed four to race in division 3. The four of Alex Ventisei, Sam Kavanagh, Jack Colliver, Glen Mulkerrins, coxed by Georgia Bygraves rowed a shorter course, due to to very windy conditions. They came home with second place with a solid time just behind Nottingham RC senior four, beating some rival schools racing in a different category.

The Senior girls stepped up their game this weekend. The quad of Hannah Cowie, Ella Monaghan, Natalie Graham and Izzy Glanvill raced to a high standard with a respectable time to match, even in the windy conditions. A well earned second place to Nottingham and beating some very strong competition. A very positive result before the junior sculling head coming up.

A J16 boys eight of Joe Herbert, Austin Roberts, Damon Hall, Joe Walker, Radjesh Paul, Mateo Peluso, Jack Tindall, Tom Van Der Sande coxed by Zac Wilde raced the same 6K distance against well known Champ schools, resulting in taking a pleasing second place.

Due to very harsh weather conditions, the race was shorted for the second and third divisions. The race was now just over 2.5K and saw the J15 girls race. The quad of Imogen Eales, Jess Read, Lizzie Rowe and Hannah Heappey came in 4th whilst the quad of Lauren Burchell, Charlie Andrew, Katie Gell, Molly Kemble, coxed by Anja Wharton, finished in 6th place. Both quads sculled well and consequently produced times 4 seconds apart from each other. This will lead to some forward planning to find the fastest combinations.

With some subs on board, the J16 girls raced a quad of Zara Ziaullah, Thea Hale, Lara Brittain  and Olivia Woodworth who  managed a pleasing 3rd place, beating the likes of Oundle school and Warrington!

The J15 boys eight of Mathew Fox, Arjun Patel, Aaron Smith, Caleb Avis, Evan Potts, Ethan Carr, Matej Sanders and Jake Young, coxed by Sam Szeto, rowed well in the conditions and produced a very encouraging performance coming in second place to Shrewsbury.

BMSBC saw out a very good weekend of results and times against our competitors.

Good work team.

The second water assessment for the GB junior rowing trials took place during half term over the second weekend.  Hannah Cowie and Glen Mulkerrins were competing whilst Voirrey Taylor was unfortunately not able to attend due to an injury.

On Saturday Hannah competed in the single, finishing 44th. Hannah was then paired up with a girl from Chester-le-Street rowing club to form a composite pair for the Sunday time trial where she managed to finish 10th out of 11 pairs.

Glen Mulkerrins was racing in a composite pair on Saturday with a boy from Winchester College finishing 36th in the time trial. Unfortunately he was unable to improve on his result as he raced on Sunday.

Both students competed well but will need to continue improving to match the very high standard set at the GB Rowing trials. Some internal focus into the school programme will ensure these standards are met. A strong achievement to have made it to these trials nonetheless.

School may have broken up for half term, but the boat club does not rest…

With over 100 students competing for the boat club across the day, for the Year 9 students, it was an opportunity for nearly 40 students to experience their first race!

The weather was far from pleasant; cold, light snow and a headwind meant for pretty miserable rowing conditions. The First VIII was the first crew to race, going off second crew of the day behind the Bedford School First VIII. Despite them getting the better of us on this occasion, we showed promising signs that the gap has narrowed since Hampton Head. The J16 eight had a slightly tougher day not running a full strength crew showed and they were unable to match the pace of the crews in their competition. The J15 coxed four performed well showing that we are moving with the right times! The J15 boys second eight also competing well, but will need to focus their efforts and continue moving forwards.

The Senior girls had a busy day, with two quads racing in separate categories, with the quad of Natalie Graham, Voirrey Taylor, Izzy Glanvill and Hannah Cowie recording a win in the Womens Intermediate 1 quads. Some swaps between the crews made for some interesting comparisons. Mainly as both boats recorded the same time!! The Senior Girls 8 just narrowly missed out on a win to a Cambridge University college crew. The J16 girls quad were a little off the pace of the fastest crew in their event, but showing they were competitive with the schools they will be racing in the summer. The WJ15 coxed quads also a little off the pace, but with a last minute crew change these girls performed very well, even going faster on their second attempt down the course!

The real highlight of the day though had to be the Year 9 boats from the boys and the girls. All 4 crews managed to race down the course putting their practice to great effect. All boats managed the task excellently, and all the equipment came back in one piece, a miracle!! All the coaches were very pleased to see their enthusiasm on the day, and the great support from the parents too. We look forward to seeing these crews develop over the coming months. Well done.

Full results can be found here: Bedford Head Results

Hampton Head of the river saw a very early start for some of the students and coaches, after a time of uncertainty of whether the event would go ahead due to the flooding.

After the cold start, the crews boated with the Senior Boys heading off first soon followed by the Senior Girls coxless four. These crews both rowed well in strong categories, which featured the top schools and clubs that you would expect to see all season. The Senior Boys finished 5th from 13, and the Girls managed 6th out of 8. The J16 Boys coxed four put in a very encouraging performance to finish 5th in their category. The J15 Girls doubles sculled their way down the course, with Imogen Eales and Jess Read finishing a very impressive 4th out of 20. Molly Kemble and Maia White also finished well, 14th for them.

All of these athletes then raced again in the afternoon, in their respective bigger boats. The boys 1st VIII was possibly lacking some cohesion, as they struggled to match the pace of the front running crews. The J16 Boys managed to reinforce their race from the morning, finishing 5th, just under 15 seconds behind the front runners. The J15 Boys found themselves struggling slightly, with a few illnesses during the week, slightly on the back foot. However despite this, they showed they have real speed to develop, with the faster crews within reach. The Girls J15 quads put in respectable times over the course, which should encourage them, as a group, to keep training hard to reach their goals. The Senior Girls quad showed skillful sculling, just reminding them also to continue to search for the improvements as the season progresses.

A good day for the Boat club, with lots of athletes racing and plenty of strong performances. Thank you to all the Parents who came to support the crews, it is always hugely appreciated.

Well done to all that raced, a long day starting at 5:45am for many!

Results can be found here: Hampton Head Results

No wins but some very credible performances. 

No news of cancellation so I will see some of you bright and early tomorrow morning! 

All, 

Hampton are currently monitoring conditions as the river level is rising.  They are currently on yellow boards, however are surrounded by red boards; a red board would lead to the whole event being cancelled. 

The current plan is that no J13/14 crews can race, which doesn’t effect us. If they remain on yellow boards J15 and up will race, this includes all of our crews. 

Please keep an eye on the BMSBC website, twitter and e-mail for updates. 

Mr Bavington