Surbiton High School Boat Club has been encouraging pupils to engage with the sport of rowing since 2010 and has now built an enviable reputation as one of the leading rowing programmes for girls in the country. The main ethos of the Boat Club is centered around developing a lifelong passion for rowing. In a fun and enjoyable environment, the pupils develop an understanding of accountability to themselves, the crew and the club; whether training, racing at Local or National events or representing Great Britain.
Students can start rowing in Year 8 and continue through to Year 13. Over this six-year period, we develop their skills and physiology to meet whatever goals the athlete might set themselves.
| PARTICIPATION | PERFORMANCE |
| Our target with participation levels is to make participating as easy as possible. With so many activities on offer, it is important our students feel that sport is accessible without becoming too onerous. Minimise the clashes and maximise the fun! |
As a whole-school initiative, tailor-made provision allows us to cater for the needs of the individual. Out multi skilled athletes mean that no two programs are the same.
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| PARTICIPATION |
| Girls can attend as many or as few sessions as they like with no pressure to hit performance targets. They will receive the same coaching and use of facilities as everyone else, with all the same opportunities should they choose to pursue a more competitive path. |
Head of Rowing – Stewart Walker
Stewart Walker has lead the Surbiton High rowing programme since 2010 when we were just part of Molesey Boat Club. Since then, we have gained our own boathouse and grown into one of the School’s leading sports clubs. With squad size and achievements growing every year, Stewart continues to lead the club towards being one of the top performing school rowing programmes in the country.
The Coaching Team
The coaching team bring a wealth of invaluable knowledge and experience to the rowing programme. However, they are also actively involved in the wider sport of rowing; they sit on external rowing committees, help organise and run rowing regattas and head races, umpire events, help formulate the direction of girls rowing, push the agenda for equality at events, work closely with British Rowing on the future of GB junior sweep rowing, attend rowing seminars and conferences and some of them even still compete.
We have three full time, professional coaches focused solely on the development of our athletes and the Rowing Club. We have a further seven part time coaches and three members of the teaching staff assisting with the running of the club and training the squad. This team has been responsible for coaching numerous National titles and International representation, as well as many representing Great Britain themselves from Junior to Senior Level.
Facilities & Equipment
We row on one of the nicest stretches of water in the country – 7km of wide, flat, uninterrupted river running from Hampton Court to Teddington. We are completely self-sufficient at our boathouse with seven coaching launches and 46 fine racing boats. The School’s facilities include our own space for our fleet of ergos and Wattbikes, and a fully equipped strength and conditioning gym
| INTERNATIONAL | ALUMNI |
| As our squad grows, so does its success. We have sent many athletes to compete internationally over the years including five girls earning their GB vest last summer and bringing gold medals home. | Many students who come through our programme continue to row beyond school, with several of our alumni currently racing in the top boat at their university and representing Great Britain. |
Competition
We take our athletes to a full range of competitions from local races, which accommodate all levels of ability, right up to National Schools’ Regatta, Henley Royal and GB trials. Athletes can race in all boat categories from 1x to 8+, and all events from Novice to Elite. We also arrange fixtures with other schools to broaden the rowers’ experience and competitive horizons.
History
Rowing at Surbiton High School first came into being in 1982 when four pupils formed a crew with the aim of racing. Amongst one of these early pioneers was Kim Thomas, who went on to represent Great Britain in the Women’s Eight at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Later, Surbiton High Rowing became part of the Molesey Schools Rowing Association (MSRA) and lost its own identity; but after the demise of MSRA, Surbiton High School made the decision to maintain and develop rowing as a sport at School and set up its own rowing programme.
Mr Stewart Walker was appointed in 2010 with an open remit to develop a school rowing programme. We started with fewer than 20 pupils rowing and although we had access to some of Molesey Boat Club’s equipment for training and racing, we only owned one boat, ‘Blade Runner’, which is still in use today. In 2011, rowing went curricular, the Rowing Parents’ Club, ‘Blades’, was formed, and we acquired our first two new boats, paid for by the Parents’ Association. In 2013, we acquired a boathouse, which was officially opened by Andrew Triggs-Hodge. In the same year, the School provided funds to substantially increase the fleet of boats.
Since then, we have grown every year; increasing our membership, number of boats and oars, ergos and weights, and our achievements.
Results
Year 9 (J14)
- The J14 squad has made excellent progress this year, building on the skills and fitness they established at J13. Everyone has improved their ergo scores, and there has been some outstanding progress with boat skills in smaller boats.
- Teddington Head: Gold, Bronze and 4th in WJ14 Octuple Sculls
- Scullery: WJ14 Octuple Sculls – A-boat Category Silver place, B-boat Category Gold place
- Poplar Regatta: WJ14 Octuple Sculls Gold and Silver place
- National Schools Regatta: WJ14 Octuple Sculls – A-boat Category 5th place, B-boat Category Bronze and 11th
- Reading Amateur Regatta: WJ14 Octuple Sculls – Gold place
- Thames Valley Park Regatta: four J14s raced in a composite crew with J15s, winning Gold in Wj14 Octuple Silver
- National Schools Regatta Bronze WJ14 Octuples
- Poplar Regatta WJ14 Octuple Gold
- Reading Regatta WJ14 Octuple Gold
Year 10 (J15)
A very successful year with the J15 squad winning numerous medals. Some highlights are below:
- Poplar Regatta Docklands: 1st Eight Gold, 2nd Eight Gold
- National Schools Regatta: 2nd Eight Silver
- Reading Regatta: 1st Eight Gold, 2nd Eight Gold
- Marlow Regatta: 1st Eight Gold
- Thames Valley Park Regatta Gold in Eight, 2nd Eight Bronze, Gold in Octuple
- Poplar Regatta Gold WJ15 Eights
- Thames Ditton Regatta WJ15 Coxed Four
- Head of the River Race WJ15 Eight
- Reading Regatta double Gold WJ15 Eights
- National Schools Regatta WJ15 2nd Eight Silver
Year 11 – J16
The J16s have a had a fantastic season wining many national titles:
- Hammersmith Head: Gold 1st Eights
- Schools Head: Gold 1st Eights
- Schools Head: Gold 2nd Eights and New Course Record
- Junior Inter Regionals Regatta – Silver 1st Eights
- National schools Regatta: Silver1st Eights, Gold 2nd Eight, Coxed Four Gold C final
- National Schools Regatta WJ16 Second Eights GOLD
- National Schools Regatta WJ16 First Eights Silver
- Junior Inter-Regional Regatta Silver Medal WJ16 Eights
Sixth Form – J18
The senior squad racing mainly at National Level events produced some great racing and results:
- Kingston Small Boats Head: Gold in Quad and Coxed Four
- Head of the River Race: First Eight 7th, Second Eight 8th, Third Eight Gold
- Poplar Regatta at Docklands: Silver in Coxed and Coxless Fours
- Wallingford Regatta: Gold in Coxless Fours
- Henley Women’s Regatta: Win beating Blair Academy USA
- Gracie B selected to row for Ireland at the Coupe de la Jeunesse (Junior European Championships)
- Head of the River Race WJ18 1st Eight 7th
- Head of the River Race WJ18 2N Eight 4th
- Head of the River Race WJ18 3rd Eight GOLD
