Surbiton Rowers off to a Great Start for the Racing Year
The first part of the rowing season has been packed with excitement; with new boats and equipment arriving and plenty of racing, there’s been a lot going on. In this article, we look back at what’s been happening in the rowing programme.
The Racing – 25 Gold, 24 Silver, and 15 Bronze Medals
So far, the racing has bagged a good haul of medals from six races: 25 gold, 24 silver, and 16 bronze from across a broad range of athletes and events.
Kingston Small Boats Head Race – Four Gold, Five Silver, and Four Bronze Medals
Surbiton High School’s first race was Kingston Small Boats Head in November, where 95 athletes raced over a gruelling 5000m course; a nerve-wracking race in which we see if the early season training has paid off as the Surbiton rowers compete in their first competition of the season. We produced a medal haul of four gold, five silver, and five bronze, with many other notable finish positions.
WJ15 Single Gold, Silver, and Bronze
WJ15 Double Silver
WJ15 Coxed Quad Silver
WJ16 Single Gold
WJ16 Double Gold
WJ16 Coxed Four Silver
WJ18 Single Bronze
WJ18 Coxed Four Bronze
WJ18 Double Gold and Women’s Single Silver and Bronze
Teddington Head – 11 Gold, eight Silver, and Five Bronze Medals
Next up on the racing calendar was Teddington Head and the rowers continued to make waves bagging a rich tally of medals and another 5000m tough race. This was the J14 squad’s first race of the season and for many their first-ever race. They acquitted themselves very well indeed with a gold and silver medal. The results were as follows:
WJ16 Quad Gold
WJ16 Double Gold and Bronze
WJ16 Eight Gold, Silver
WJ16 Coxless Four Gold
WJ16 Coxed Four Gold and Bronze
WJ15 Eight Gold and Silver
WJ15 Singles Silver and Bronze
WJ15 Double Silver and Bronze
WJ15 Coxed Quad Gold, 7th and 10th
WJ18 Coxless Four Gold
WJ18 Double
WJ18 Coxed Four Silver and 4th
WJ18 Single Gold
WJ18 Eight Gold
WJ18 Quad Silver, Women’s Double Gold, Women’s Single Bronze
WJ14 Octuple Gold, Silver
WJ14 Coxed Quad Silver
Hampton Small Boats Head – Three Gold, Two Silver, and Three Bronze
The first of our tier-one national events. This event attracts junior crews from across the country and is the first real test of racing at a national level in small boats (any boat that is not an eight), where the best come out to race in this hotly contested event. This is where we get a real idea of where we stand within junior rowing in the country. Results were:
WJ18 Double (out of 25) Gold, 4th
WJ18 Pairs Bronze
WJ17 Double (out of 24) Bronze
WJ17 Single (out of 24) Silver and Bronze
WJ16 Quad (out of 27) Gold
WJ16 Double (out of 35) Gold
There we many excellent performances too that were just outside the medals.
Quintin Head – Three Gold and Two Bronze, Winner of the Quintin Hogg Memorial Prize
The first of our ‘tideway’ races down on the tidal Thames. This is an ‘eights’-only event and open to adults as well as juniors, which is great as it allows us to compare our results with adult crews. This race is a good warm up for The Schools Head in March. We entered seven crews and they excelled themselves, winning:
WJ18 Second Eights Bronze
WJ16 Eights Gold and 8th
WJ16 Second Eights Bronze
WJ15 Eights Gold
WJ15 Second Eights Gold
The Quintin Hogg Memorial Prize for the fastest aggregate WJ15, WJ16 & WJ18 time and a prize of a CoxBox Core.
Hampton Head – Four Gold, Seven Silver, and One Bronze
Just as we thought things could not get any better, the Surbiton High School rowers added more medals to the growing tally whilst racing at The Hampton Head, the second of the Hampton races, and again, a tier one national event raced over 3000m. This differs from the previous Hampton event as the eights now get racing. Success came from a range of ages as follows:
WJ14 Octuple (out of 18) Silver
WJ15 Second Eights Gold and Silver
WJ15 Coxed Quads, Silver
WJ15 Eights Gold
WJ16 Second Eights Silver
WJ16 Doubles Bronze
WJ16 Coxless Four Silver
WJ16 Eight Gold
WJ18 Second Eights Silver
WJ18 Coxless Four Gold
WJ18 Eights Silver
Our GB trialists are doing very well and continue in the trialling process to earn their place as part of the GB Junior squad and race for Great Britain.
Our next races in March are:
Saturday 4 March – The Women’s Head
Saturday 11 March – Kingston Head
Friday 17 March – The Schools Head
Monday 20 March – The Junior Sculling Head
Other News
Apart from the racing, there has been a lot going on. Over the October half term, the J14 squad went to Canterbury for a mini training camp over four days and had the use of Kings Canterbury’s rowing lake, staying at the local Premier Inn, whilst training continued at the boathouse for the other squads. Christmas arrived and we held our annual Christmas Pudding Races comprising of mixed teams from J13 to J18 to raise money for the charity, Love Rowing. Training was arranged for various squads at the boathouse over the Christmas holidays.
The strength and conditioning gym at Hinchley Wood had an upgrade, with new flooring, mirrors, heating and air conditioning, and lots of Olympic-quality weights and conditioning equipment. We also created a spin bike studio at Hinchley Wood, where there are twenty spin bikes. Both training spaces have greatly enhanced the ability for the rowers to train. We took delivery of a new Filippi eight which is now the flagship of our fleet of boats.
The annual Boat Club Gala Dinner is fast approaching. This is one of the highlights of the year and we are returning to Richmond. There will be two hundred rowers and parents enjoying the celebrations and awards.
You can follow all the action of the Surbiton rowers on Twitter @SurbitonRowing.
