Calm waters greeted the crews from around the country for the national 2000 metre regatta held on the Olympic Lake at Dorney. The boys 2nd VIII had a tough day, just failing to make their respective finals in both their events. The 1st had a good day, finishing 2nd in the under 18 VIIIs and then 4th in the senior IM2 VIIIs. The J15 2nd VIII failed to progress in their event but learnt many valuable lessons.

The day belonged once again to the senior girls coxed four who bettered their morning finish of 3rd in IM2 coxed fours by rowing through the field in the afternoon final of the IM3 coxed fours, bringing back further silverware for the trophy cabinet in Chester.

Weekend Results:

36 athletes and 5 coaches spent a week at Pangbourne School Boat Club training and racing. For the J14 squad this was their first experience of a training camp and all the athletes adapted exceptionally well to the demands of a week’s rowing training. All the athletes had the opportunity to race, train and build friendships and crews over the week.

79 athletes and 7 coaches made the annual journey during April to the King’s Chester training camp base in Ghent, Belgium. Each crew focused on developing their boat speed in preparation for this Summers National Schools Regatta to be held in June. To help with this preparation all the athletes competed in the Ghent International Regatta. The highlight of the weekend was the crowning of both the boys and girls 1^st VIII crews as National Flemish Champions, this is the third year running that the boys VIII has triumphed in this event however it was the first time for the girls VIII, who also won the senior women’s event as well.

Three senior boys and two senior coxes received invites to the GB spring assessment trials in April. Harry Ashworth, Harry Chappell, Freddy Hill and William Miller all received invites after their performances at the trials in Boston, whilst Courtney Dowinton (senior girls) and Harry Brightmore (senior boys) received invites to trial for a coxes position. After a successful few days Harry was consequently invited to represent team GB at the Munich International Regatta in May.

All the athletes continued to build on their performances at the trial held on Dorney Lake at the end of April. Harry Ashworth finished a promising 8^th place in his pair, Harry Chappell and Freddy Hill 14^th with William Miller also in the 24. All are now on course to win GB vests this summer.

King’s had an impressive weekend despite the monsoon conditions which settled across both Holme Pierrepoint and Dorney Lake. At the Inter-Regional’s regatta the J16 VIII took gold as they produced the quickest time of the regatta, beating the crew from Westminster School into second place. The J15 girls coxed four also took the gold medal in their event. The J16 girls coxed four came a credible fourth, with the J15 boys coxed four in bronze medal position. The J14 girls would have qualified for the A final if it had taken place, finishing in sixth position. Despite the disappointment of the day, all the crews can take heart that they would have qualified and been challenging for medals in the A finals if they had been run.

At the GB Trials on Sunday, Harry Ashworth continued to make progress towards his GB vest this summer by finishing 8^th in the pairs, Harry Chappell and Freddy Hill also did well to finish 14^th overall, with Will Miller also winning a place in the D final before having to withdraw. All four continue to make good progress in securing a GB vest for this summer’s international regattas.

http://blueski.instaproofs.com/collection.php?event=584707

King’s continued their good run of form at the Chester Regatta. William Marshall defeated scullers from the region to be crowned the “Champion of the Dee” by winning the J18 single sculls event. In the women’s event King’s boated an VIII in  the only VIIIs event at the regatta, beating the VIII from Liverpool University. This continues the girl’s squad dominant form, just returning from a training camp in Belgium where they were crowned the Flemish Under 18 champions in the VIII.

Results: KCH – Chester Regatta Results 2012

KCH Teamsheet: ***new 24/04 KCH – Inter-Regionals Regatta- Teamsheet 2012***

Draw & Timings: KCH – 2012 Inter-Regional Draw

2012 Results: http://www.jirr.org/results.htm

The recent wins at the Ghent International Regatta in Belgium concluded an exceptional four weeks for the rowing club.

At the Schools Head in London, King’s triumphed in the girls coxed four event, winning the school’s first Schools Head title in a girl’s event. The J16 VIII, J15 B VIII and Girls J15 VIII all won silver in their event. The J15 Championship VIII won bronze in the Championship VIII category.

At the sculling head, the day after, the club excelled.  All three J14 Octuples won their events, the A, B & C categories. This was over a field of 60 crews from around the country and it is the first time that it has been achieved by any school in the competition. The girls octuple, in a field of 23 crews won bronze medals.

At the Ghent International Regatta in Belgium both the girls and boys 1^st VIIIs were crowned Flemish champions, winning the VIIIs competition on both days of the regatta. For the boys this was the third year in a row that this had been achieved, for the girl’s squad this was the first time. Alongside these victories there were also crew wins on both sides for the club in the coxed fours, coxless fours and pairs. All the trophies won at the Regatta will be on show at the back of the theatre until the end of the summer term.

Winning Crews to Receive medals

Schools Head 2012

Senior Girls Coxed Four: Gold all 6^th form unless otherwise stated

Elizabeth Williams / Olivia Lewis / Lottie Frazer-Cox / Alice Carr (5^th Form) / Courtney Dowinton (Steers)

J15 Championship VIII: Bronze all 4^th Form

Ben Paxton / Ben Monk / Aaron Soutter / Alex Slater / Lucas Martin-Yates / Harry Collicutt / Harry Stables / Scott Griffiths / William Blacklock (steers)

Sculling Head 2012 : all 3^rd Form

J14 Boys Octuple A: Gold

Charlie Macloskey/ Sam Wild / Ben Cliff / Ben Stratton / John Barton / Dan Weatherly / Oliver Berry / Harry Strudwick / Ben Maudsley (steers)

J14 Boys Octuple B: Gold

Bruce Fair / Simon Ellershaw/ Harry Higginbottom / Ben Carmichael / Gergo Erdi-Krausz / Christian Palmer / Dexter Southern / Angus Menzies / Rory Crowe (steers)

J14 Girls Octuple: Bronze

Natasha Tudor / Charlotte Knight / Anna Willis / Niamh Massey / Rebekah Hagan / Catriona Hogg / Natalie Tomlinson / Katie Lawrence-Smith / Erin Hollingworth (steers)

Results: Saturday Results / Saturday Survey / Sunday Results / Sunday Survey

The King’s School Rowing Club had an excellent weekend at the Flemish National Championships in Ghent. In total 79 pupils competed for the club over the weekend with wins in both girls and boys categories. Medals were won in the coxless pairs, coxed and coxless fours, quads and VIIIs events as the school dominated the junior events across the sweep rowing board. The 2000 metre regatta is an excellent warm up for the club as it prepares on training camp to emulate its successes of last season.

The rowing club managed a clean sweep across the board in the VIIIs event, with the boys winning the Junior Flemish Championship on both days, beating strong local rivals Sporting Gent into third place, in the same event the King’s J15 VIII won the Junior 16 VIII. The girls matched the boy’s success by winning the open women’s VIIIs event on both Saturday and Sunday, with the J15 VIII winning a bronze on the Sunday. The girls rowed with strength and experience as they won the Flemish title for the first time over the Scottish select Junior VIII.

Both rowing club training camps are in full swing with 79 pupils training in Ghent, whilst 36 J14 athletes began their week of training in Pangbourne on Monday. Whilst the weather hasn’t been kind, the athletes are working hard and with determination as they aim to build on their technique and boat speeds.

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=98762983bf7ba351&Bsrc=SkyMail&Bpub=SDX.SkyDrive&sc=Photos&id=98762983BF7BA351%21265#

The King’s Rowing Club has had tremendous success this week at the National Schools’ Head. In all 114 pupils raced for the club at National level as the table below shows, an average finish position of 3^rd place. Nine of the 14 crews that raced came in the top 3, with the remaining 5 crews coming 8th place or better.

The highlights of the two days of competition were the three gold medals for the boys’ octuples on Monday and on Tuesday, our first ever girls gold medal at the National Schools’ Head. The girls” crew of Elizabeth Williams, Olivia Lewis, Lottie Frazer-Cox, Alice Carr & Courtney Dowinton won the girls’ under 18 coxed fours event. (the first win at this event for the school since 2005)

“We had a very successful two days, there is still plenty to do before the National Schools’ Regatta however this weekend’s Rowing Club Ball will be a wonderful way to celebrate the achievements of so many of our rowers so far this year.” David Blackham, Director of Rowing.

*over a 3600 metre course

KCH Review

KCH Full Results:KCH – Results – Schools & Sculling Head 2012

Sculling Head Results:KCH – National Sculling Head Results 2012 Boys & KCH – National Sculling Head Results 2012 Girls

Schools Head Results:KCH – Schools Head Results 2012

King’s walked away with all three boys gold medals from the National Sculling Head held today at Dorney. The A octuple stormed to a 29 second win in the 60 crew event, whilst the B octuple took the gold by 13 seconds over Hampton school. The c octuple result was a lot closer, with the crews winning margin over Bedford School of  .5 of a second.

The girls also had an excellent day, winning a bronze medal in the girls octuple event.

Girls Result – Nationals Head – Division 6

Boys Result – Nationals Head – Division 7

Well done to all 36 athletes today, you did your club proud

Despite the cold and windy conditions the King’s crews fared well at the north-west regional trials. A successful morning saw the qualification of the J16 boys VIII, coxed four and J15 coxed four. With only three sweep events in the regatta programme this was an encouraging.

On the girls side the both the J16 and J15 coxed fours raced well and won qualification, the J16 girls VIII (the current J15 girls VIII) were unlucky not to qualify, missing out to a composite crew from the Grange/ Northwich rowing club by less than 2 seconds, a good effort though for a crew a year under age.

The afternoon events were the sculling divisions. In division 3 the J14 boys missed out to a well drilled Trentham crew by 1 second, a disappointment for the J14 boys but a good result racing against crews with a year’s extra race experience.

In division 4, King’s boated a J16 girl’s quad, two J15 girls’ coxed quads and two J14 girls coxed quads. Whilst all the boats raced well it was the turn of the J14 girls’ quad who qualified against some very strong opposition.

A very successful day which saw the qualification of six king’s crews for the Inter-Regional Regatta next month in Nottingham.

It was a rainy start at Runcorn for the Northwest Inter Regional Trials; however it was nothing that would put any of the crews off. In the first division the girls got off to good start with the J15 and J16 coxed fours winning their events. In the second division the women’s J16 eight narrowly missed out on a win to a strong Grange and Northwhich composite crew however their time of 5:33 was still very impressive. The final division was very busy with a total of 5 women’s crews competing.  A special mention has to go to the girl’s j14 A quad who won their event comfortably in excellent style. The girls’ j14 B crew also raced well coming fourth in their category. Finally the two J15 coxed quads came second and third and the girls J16 coxless quad came second. Overall an exciting days racing was had with some fantastic results.

Alice Carr – Senior Girl Squad ’12

This weekend was the culmination of three very encouraging weeks for the King’s School Rowing Club. At the Runcorn Spring Head the club picked up two wins in the day, including the senior IM3 coxed four event. On the same day at the Reading Head, King’s produced an excellent set of results against the major schools from the south with three wins, a silver and a bronze. This included the 1^st VIIIs win of the Under 18 VIIIs category.

A week later at the inter-regional trials, King’s qualified six crews in total to represent the North-West region at the National event to be held in Nottingham at the end of next April.

At the North of England Head, King’s again won five events, which included both Novice and the Under 18 women’s VIIIs event. On the boy’s side the club was dominant, winning the Under 14s, 15s and 16s VIIIs.

Three senior boys and two senior coxes have received invites to the GB spring assessment trials in April. Harry Ashworth, Harry Chappell and Freddy Hill all received invites after their performances at the trials in Boston, whilst Courtney Dowinton (senior girls) and Harry Brightmore (senior boys) received invites to trial for a coxes position.

“The last three weekends have been crucial in our preparation plans for the national races next week in London and at Dorney Lake. The athletes have been performing well and confidence is high at the club. We have fourteen crews competing next week, the athletes have trained hard throughout the winter months and this is their opportunity to shine on the national stage” DJB

Photographs Now Available at: http://sites.kingschester.co.uk/rowing/photos-video/?album=all&gallery=27

KCH Teamlist: ***Updated 09/01 KCH – North of England Head 2012 ***

Draw & Details: KCH – 2012 Draw / Head Course Map / Race Rules/ Safety Plan

KCH RESULTS: KCH – North Of England – Results

North-West Inter Regional Time Trial Results 2012

KCH – Inter-Regional Trials Results

http://runcornrowing.com/html/spring_video.html

Runcorn Head: http://www.photoboxgallery.com/rowingpics2012

Reading Head: http://robbowker.photoshelter.com/gallery/Reading-University-BC-HORR2012-Div1/G0000.AiOy6BOwQg/

With three weeks to the schools head, a set of very encouraging results from the weekend for KSRC to build on.

Runcorn & Reading Head Results - KCH

Reading University Head Results – Div.1 / Reading University Head Results – Div.2

Runcorn Head Results

    Toward the end of half term, the top athletes in the club made the journey east to the infamous small town of Boston, known usually to the rest of the world as its American counterpart, but to the rowing community, as the venue for the opening set of trials for the GB rowing team.

    On the Friday evening, after an interesting three hour journey across (including quite severe sickness on the boys’ truck), the trialling athletes practised on the course. Liz Williams and Alice Carr took to their singles as a warm up for the single race on Saturday; Freddie Hill and Harry Chappell, along with Harry Ashworth and Will Miller took to their pairs.

    Saturday morning soon came around, and the athletes stepped up to face the elite junior rowers that the country has to offer. Although conditions proved a little windy, the girls’ singles raced early in the 1^st division, and King’s put out respectable performances. Liz Williams came 44^th amongst a quality turnout in the Junior Women’s 1x category, while Alice Carr took 16^th place in the Women’s Junior 16 1x category. Later on in the day, in the second division, the Junior Men’s 2- took to the course. King’s again produced encouraging results, with Freddie Hill and Harry Chappell taking the 9^th place spot, with Harry Ashworth and Will Miller taking 18^th.

    For Sunday’s racing, all the athletes were subject to changes, with both Liz and Alice combining to make a Junior Women’s 2-, and the two pairs on the Junior Men’s side were to swap oarsmen. The swapping of combinations provided a challenge amongst the boys squad, with Harry Ashworth and Harry Chappell moving ahead of the other pair with a 20^th place finish, with Freddie Hill and Will Miller slipping back to a slightly less admirable 31^st . Alice Carr and Liz Williams managed to secure 14^th place in their pair’s category.

    Despite the rankings of Sunday’s results, it was encouraging to see the athletes working within precise time ranges, proving that perhaps a second or two can push you very far up the rankings. Having said this, it speaks for itself that the standard at the top end is all about the margins.

Despite not being as important as the rowers during the weekend, Courtney Dowinton and I attended the trials not just for support, but also to be part of the coxing selection. Recordings of the subject’s coxing are put forward for review and will hopefully be of sufficient quality to grant an invite to the Easter assessment.

Harry Brightmore – 1^st VIII cox ‘12

A good day for both the boys and girls crew competing at Hampton. The conditions were excellent despite being cold and the crews competed with energy and an increased technical level gained from hard work over the winter months on the River Dee.

In Division 1 the J14 crews delivered a very strong set of results. The J14 boys’ coxed quad came 2^nd  to a strong crew from Henley by 4 seconds to pick up the silver medals. The J14 boy octuples both produced strong rows, with the A boat winning the division by 5 seconds over close rivals Shrewsbury and 28 other J14 crews. The B boat was also in the top half of the rankings by finishing in 13^th position. Both girls J14 coxed quads sculled well, finishing 6^th and 7^th out of 19 crews. The senior girls squad performed well with the J16 crew finishing 4^th out of 11 crews, the J18 coxed four crew of Elizabeth Williams, Lottie Frazer-Cox, Olivia Lewis, Alice Carr and Courtney Dowinton continued an excellent run of form by winning the Under 18 event by 25 seconds over home crew Molesey Rowing Club. The boys’ J16 coxless four rowed well to secure a 3^rd place finish.

King’s continued the good results into the afternoon. The J16 VIII finished 4^th out of 13 in their category, the girls senior VIII 6^th in under 18 VIIIs. The Girls J15 VIII finished 2^nd by 0.6 seconds to Marlow Rowing Club, beating old rivals LEH into 5^th by 31 seconds. The J15 boys raced well in the quad to come 13^th out of 23, the J15 girls came 16^th in their coxed quad. The top girls’ crew raced again in the coxless fours event, their result of 2^nd , this time with Lucy Simmonds in the crew for Olivia Lewis was again an excellent performance and example to the girls throughout the club.

In all, King’s finished with 2 Gold’s, 3 Silver’s and 1 Bronze with 17 crews representing the club. A very positive day for the club and crews who now have one eye on the schools head in March.

King’s Results

 DJB

Hampton Head 2012

It was a successful but cold day at Hampton with division one delayed due to ice being broken up at the start of the course! The J14 squad achieved 6^th and 7^th in the J14a girls coxed quads, and the boys came second to Henley RC by just four seconds in the J14 coxed quads. The J15 squads also competed well, the J15 girls eight came second to Marlow RC,  the girls quads were 16^th and 20^th and the boys quad  13^th in the A categories of their events.

The senior girls had a successful day with a win in the coxed fours event, second place in the coxless fours and 6^th in the eight, the J16 coxed four came 4^th to LEH and the Tideway Scullers crew. The senior boys came 5^th in the J18 coxed fours, the boys J16s boated an eight and a coxless four, achieving 4^th and 3^rd place respectively. Over all, despite lengthy delays on the return coach trip due to snowfall, it was a successful day for the club against some of the top schools that the crews will be competing against at the Schools Head in a few weeks’ time.

Hannah Riley – Senior Girl ‘12

Hampton Head Results 2012 – KCH

KSRC Triathlon 2012

The morning was clear but crisp as members of the King’s School Rowing Club and Queens Park High School Rowing clubs embarked on their annual triathlon. The club triathlon, now in its third year had 58 senior competitors who competed in the senior event (5000 metre ergo/ 5000 metre run and a 500 metre swim) and 34 juniors in the sprint triathlon (2000 metre ergo/ 5000 metre run and a 200 metre swim.)

The event was a great success and a platform for the rowers of both schools to show their levels of fitness, determination and focus. With every athlete in the event giving their best effort it was wonderful to see how all the rowers pushed themselves to improve on times from last year. Two athletes perhaps reflected the true spirit of the day, who in the act of competing embodied all the positive aspects of a King’s School rower. Both David Fayle and Oliver Major will both admit to be “Novice Swimmers”, However rather than dropping down to the sprint event competed in the senior event. Their performances in the pool were truly inspiring and although they will not be taking any medals away from this event produced by far the biggest cheers from the crowd on the completion of what was for them a personal marathon, their performances inspirational to all who witnessed them.

At the business end of the proceedings the racing was extremely competitive with great performances from all five category winners Harry Ashworth (senior boys, KSRC) Alice Carr (senior girls, KSRC) Chris McCartney (sprint boys, QPHSRC) Anna Willis (sprint girls, KSRC) and Mark Brownson (Coxes race, KSRC). All five will receive individual trophies for their efforts along with medals. Congratulations to all who competed in the event and the many that produced personal bests.

4 wins for the club despite the harsh conditions. A good day sprint racing for all! King’s pick up wins with the IM3 VIII which was also the quickest crew of the day, J18 Quad, Girls Novice Quad and the J16 Boys VIII. Excellent rows also by the J15 Girls B VIII who came second in their category and the girls senior VIII in Womens IM3 VIIIs.

Full results can be found at: http://www.lvrc.co.uk/Results_Float_2011_by_status.pdf

The J14 A and B octs won over two races over 1500m, beating Shrewsbury decisively on their home waters. The junior girls also raced well, beating many of the Shrewsbury boys crews. The J15 B VIII won both their races by over 10 seconds to continue a good year for the crew so far. It was a solid days performance, showing the junior crews are in good form and hopefully looking to match last year with an unbeaten record of races.

Tom Stables – KSRC secretary ‘11

King’s experienced a wonderful day out at the recent annual Shrewsbury match. Crews from the J14 and J15 squad competed against their rivals for early season bragging rights. King’s walked away with wins in every category, with the J14 boys comfortably beating the J14s from Shrewsbury. The J14 girls crew in confidence and were also able to beat many of their male counterparts from Shrewsbury. At J15 level the boys B VIIIs raced over the course with the King’s VIII beating Shrewsbury by a good ten seconds in each of the divisions.

The Senior squads of the club competed over the 4250m course on the Thames this Sunday, with crews racing in the morning and afternoon divisions.

In division 1, the 1^st VIII came a tight 5^th to a number of evenly matched crews, with the 2^nd eight also producing a good performance. The Girls senior 4+ came 2^nd by 20 seconds to an Oxford Brookes University crew and the girls senior VIII also did well, coming 2^nd to a strong LEH 1^st VIII. The Girls J15 VIII continued their unbeaten run with a comfortable 1^st, with the boys J15 VIII matching this result to complete an excellent 1^st division for Kings.

In the afternoon the positive performances continued with the 1^st VIII matching their time from the morning to come 6^th in competition with strong university crews. The 2^nd VIII also produced a similar time to their morning race, showing a good level of consistency and maturity. The J16 VIII came 8^th out of 14 but raced well. Two J15 4+ also raced, coming 1^st and 2^nd in their category.

An excellent weekends racing, establishing Kings in many of the age categories as the club to beat this season.

Tom Stables – KSRC secretary ‘11

KCH Wallingford Head Results 2011 photo’s from the event: http://robbowker.photoshelter.com/ 

King’s Vs. Shrewsbury 2011

King’s entered four athletes into the GB early rowing trials, held in Boston. Out of 180 GB hopefuls the King’s athletes showed their class by all finishing in the top half of the draw. William Miller led the charge by finishing 9^th overall, in amongst many GB Junior Internationals from the 2010-2011 season.  Harry Ashworth came 31^st, Harry Chappell 57^th and Freddy Hill 70^th.

It was an excellent day for the King’s rowers who will look to progress in the GB ranking next February at the pair’s trials in Boston.

King’s had an excellent day at the recent Northwich Head held on the River Weaver in Northwich. With the club boating 38 crews and 98 pupils competing it was the biggest King’s entry to an event this season and the athlete’s gave their best on what was a glorious autumnal day.

Nine scullers raced in division 1, on the boys side William Marshall continued his run of form in the J17 category, with Charlie Mayes leading the King’s scullers in the J16 category. On the girl’s side Amelia Barry was the quickest girl’s sculler and Henrietta Green picked up her first win of the season in the Novice Women’s Category.

In Division 2 There were wins for the novice four (J15 coxed four) as well as the Girl’s J16 coxless quad and the girl’s senior coxed four, who continued their good run of form after their very positive result the week before at the Fours Head.

The club picked up a further three wins in division 3 as the J16 coxed four won their category. There were also wins for the senior girls’ double scull of Alice Carr and Elizabeth Williams as well as a first win for the J14 boys in the coxed quad, beating rivals Shrewsbury School into second place.

KCH Results: KCH Results 2011

Kings sent 5 crews to the Fours Head of the River in London. The Girls senior coxed four came third in the Womens junior coxed fours category, losing out to a tied first place by Trentham and Lady Eleanor Holles by 25 seconds but beating rivals Headington School.

The Boys competed in the junior coxed quads, with the 1st quad coming 7th , the 2nd quad coming 16th, the J16 quad coming 25th, and the 3rd quad coming 28th.

It was a promising performance for the first tideway event, but there is still plenty of work to be done before we return for the Schools Head in March!

Tom Stables – KSRC Secretary ’11

Well done today to all who raced.

Winning crews: Novice 1x Miller,T / WJ15 2x/ IM1 VIII/ WIM3 2x/ WJ14 Coxed Quad/ WJ15 Coxed Quad (6)

KCH Results: KCH Results – Dee Autumn Head

The Dee Autumn Head provided an excellent days racing on our home stretch of water here in Chester. In the morning division the school boated a total of 19 crews, with the senior quad gaining third place overall, and twelve boys single sculls fighting it out for a place in the first eight in the afternoon. The J14 A quad and girls senior four also put in impressive performances.

The afternoon prompted a battle between the scratch Kings eight and the Royal Chester club eight, with the Kings VIII losing out to their neighbours, the 2nd VIII however managed to pick up a category win with a strong performance. The Kings senior women’s double also posted a good time, narrowly losing to the J14 girls quad (who won their category) but winning their individual category.

Overall, a successful days racing, and a good warm up for the following weekend for the crews competing at the Fours Head of the River, where they looked to improve upon these results.

Tom Stables – KSRC Secretary ’11

An encouraging days racing for the cub, with crews from the J14s up to the senior girls racing at the Salford Quays in Manchester. William Marshall was the pick of the scullers in Division 1, coming 3^rd in the J17 category.

In division 2 the senior girls coxed four came a strong 2^nd place in IM3. Nearly all the crews in division 2 and 3 had encouraging first rows of the season with an unprecedented amount of the crews coming in 2^nd place in their category!

Division 3 saw the only win of the day for the club by the J16 coxed four who comfortably beat a crew from Royal Chester. A good start but plenty more to aim for as the season progresses.

Results: KCH – Agecroft Results 2011

The Senior Boys Squad had a successful day at the Nottingham Small Boats Head on the 16^th October. Kings boated twelve single sculls in the morning division, with Connor Morrison winning the J17 class and Harry Ashworth narrowly missing out on winning the J18 due to a navigational error on the final bend of the 5500m course.

In the afternoon division four quads competed in the J18 and IM2 classes. The quad of Harry Ashworth, Freddie Hill, John Marsden and Tom Stables won the J18 class with a time of 12.52. Overall, a promising start to this year, but there is more work to be done and a lot more progress to be made before the Schools Head and start of the Regatta season!

Tom Stables – secretary to KSRC ‘11

Breakdown of all three divisions from Agecroft: KCH – Agecroft Results 2011

An encouraging start to the season as the King’s School Rowing Club won four events at the Chester Long Distance Sculls race held on the River Dee. King’s boated a reduced entry due to the early date of the event in the calendar, however the athletes who did compete showed excellent early season form.  The boy’s top quad came an overall third behind two strong Royals quads, the boys J17 quad came an encouraging eleventh overall and won the J17 category. Other winners were Harry Ashworth and Will Miller in the single sculls event along with Kitty Abberton and Olivia Rogerson in the J16 girl’s double sculls.

KSRC Results: Click here

Sunday Winners

J18 1x                    Harry Ashworth

IM3 1x                  William Miller

WJ16 2x                Kitty Abberton & Olivia Rogerson

J17 4x-                  William Marshall, Finn Abberton, Charlie Mayes & Alec Davies

Below: Kitty Abberton & Olivia Rogerson scull to victory in the WJ16 2x

Former pupil and Olympic rower, Tom James MBE paid a surprise visit to King’s boathouse this week. Tom, fresh from the World Rowing Championship in Bled, Slovenia earlier this month where he won a gold medal as part of the coxless four in the GB squad was back in Chester visiting his family.

The King’s School rowers were delighted to have Tom join them on their afternoon training session when he went out on the water with their coaches to offer some advice. Tom is off back to his London GB rowing base early next week when he restarts training full time for the London 2012 Olympics.

The rowing club has just taken delivery of the new and first girls coxed four. The club is currently expanding its fleet due to the growing numbers and recent success of the girls squad. The boat is shown with four girls from the Elite Girls squad on its first outing on the Dee.

The boat is shown below with five members of the new girls senior squad, Lottie Frazer-Cox, Alice Carr, Olivia Lewis, Lucy Simmonds & cox Natalie Hall.

Harry Brightmore and Elizabeth Williams continued the tradition of King’s rowers gaining international representation this summer by qualifying and competing for the Welsh rowing team at this year’s Home Countries International Regatta in Strathclyde, Scotland.

Harry was able to secure the coxing seat in the coxed four. At the British National Championships the four rowed a high performance race to win gold and become British champions. A week later a slightly more disappointing row saw the four come in third at the International Regatta behind Ireland and England. Elizabeth Williams, Vice-Captain of KSRC in 2011 won a seat in the Welsh junior quad. After a disappointing row at the National Championships the quad trained well in the build up to the regatta to secure a third place finish in Strathclyde. Elizabeth will be hoping to go one better in 2011-2012 as she sets her targets on a full GB vest and begins the process for qualification into the full GB team.

(Harry can be seen above in the middle with the winning plaque from the British National Championships)

Full Review: click here  (Harry Brightmore)    click here (Elizabeth Williams)

Elizabeth with teamates far left(2nd from right) & with her crew in Scotland with coach Kris Williams

An excellent race and afternoon to finish off the 2011 season. Both crews lined up at the corner for the last race of the year. The pupils got away well, leading off the start however 100 metres into the race the staff pulled back level and took a commanding lead of 3/4 length, despite tiring in the last 100 metres, the staff  managed to hold off the challenges of the pupil VIII to win by 1/2 length.

Five wins and many more Silver and Bronze medals. An excellent days racing by the J15 squad at Runcorn Regatta. It was great to see both boys and girls crews enjoying their sculling and competing with the best scullers in the region. Well done to all five gold medal winning crews and to Charlie Mayes and Jack Webber who both picked up two gold medals.

So thats it, the end of the club regatta season, and what a season its been starting all the way back in October with the Long Distance Sculls in Chester. There have been great improvements, races, tears and some cracking battles on the water. Well done to all the squads, for their efforts and progress over the last 9 months.

One final word for our trialists who we wish all the best to, Lizzie Williams as she races for Wales this summer and John Marsden and James Edholm in their quest for a GB cap this summer, good luck in your personal quests to take your rowing to the next level, the whole club will be supporting you and wishing you the best over the coming month.

 House Crews 2011

An excellent afternoons racing in glorious summer sunshine to finish the season for the J14 & J15 squads. Eventual winners were Falles A who received the house trophy for 2011. Full results can be found here: click here

A bold effort as the boys 1st VIII took on St Josephs Prep from North America. The boys VIII got away to an electirc start but were unable to keep the Americans at bay during the mid section of the race. Twice in the race the 1st VIII moved back through the American VIII but were unable to hold them, eventually going down by 1 1/4 lengths in a time of 6.49.

Live coverage of the race: http://www.regattaradio.co.uk/latestaudioracecommentaries.html

Another bumper day for the King’s School Rowing Club as its athletes performed across the country. In Peterborough  the J14 squad continued their domination of the junior events by winning both the girls and boys octuples, making it a double after their wins at the National Schools Regatta last month. The Girls J14 B coxed quad also competed, winning a silver medal in their category.

At Ironbridge it was an all King’s Chester affair in the J15 coxed quads after three of the final four quads left in the event were Kings at the semi final stage, A King’s A Vs. King’s B final saw the A crew take the pots home by two lengths. Nial Barrow made the semi final of the J15 sculls event, Henrietta Green the final of the WJ15 sculls event. The girls J15 coxed quad were nudged out of a pot in an exciting race in the final against Worcester Rowing Club, the winning verdict being 1/2 length.

In Monmouth, Lizi Williams continued to progress through the Welsh trials, finishing 3rd in the single scull she then seat raced herself into 2nd place in sweep squad. It now looks certain Lizi will represent Wales in this summers Home Countries International in Strathclyde for the Welsh team.

Thames Valley Park offered the opportunity for the J15 VIII to take on the silver medallists at Nat Shools over a shorter 550 metre course. The J15 VIII took their opportunity, out of the blocks well, they led the whole way against Norwich School and St George’s College. Never dropping below 38, the crew wound up to 43 in the final 150 metres to beat St George’s by 1/2 length, an exhilarating end to the VIIIs season for the crew. (seen above)

In the coxed four the crew qualified well for the final, beating Hampton School in the semi final but were just off the pace in the final, evenutally coming in 3rd.

Full Results: click here

A spirited show by the boys squad today at Marlow Regatta. Led by the 4-, Freddy Hill, John Marsden, Harry Ashworth & Will Miller put in an excellent effort to finish in second in IM2 coxless fours. The 1st VIII made life difficult but will benefit from the extra racing experience of going through the repechage and finishing 5th in IM2 VIIIs overall.

The J15 VIII rowed two strong races and were unlucky, bumped into fourth by nationals bronze medallists Hampton by 0.04 second they progressed to the repechage where they met the silver medallists St George’s, the boys raced their best race of the season to take them to 0.9 second off St George’s, 2nd place in the rep but not a final position. They meet St George’s again at TVP tomorrow….

A final word on array of KSRC past rowers that competed at both Henley Women’s and Marlow Regatta, it was great to see so many past faces at both events, including Mr Irving and his second place in elite coxed fours!

Marlow Results: KCH Marlow Results 2011

The girls competed, as they have the whole season with fight and 100% effort. The girls VIII were disappointed not to turn over Pangbourne, KSRC lead off the start but Pangbourne showed good speed in the middle of the race, eventually turning a closely fought race into a 2/3 length victory. The J18 coxed four raced St Pauls School girls top four, competing the whole way down the course the crew eventually were beaten by 3/4 length.

Perhaps not the end of the season the crews would have wished for but on reflection it has been an excellent season of highs and more highs with many wins. The squad has made good progress and continues to build on a good foundation. Onwards and upwards to 2011-2012!

KCH Results

The senior squad girls spent a week in Henley, the home of rowing, to prepare for the summer regatta calendar. The conditions were fantastic as the crews took full advantage of warm weather and flat water. The camp was lucky to be hosted by the Leander club and boating from such as prestigious club was a unique experience for many of the girls. Camp accomadation was to be found at the local static home park! After four days of hard training in Henley the girls raced Cardiff University and U.W.E. on Dorney lake, the venue for the 2012 Olympic games. The improvements were clear to see as the crews powered away from their opposition, the most impressive being the newly formed 1^st VIII which rowed with confidence. All 24 girls enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to train in such a unique venue and returned with experience to race in the summer regatta calendar.

Predictably the wind blew and the racing was reduced to a 1000 metre time trial. However all crews were briefed and conditions were the same for all as lane 1 was used to race. First to race were the J16 Girls coxed fours. Both of the King’s crews battled hard against a raging head wind. The J15 girls, racing up a year group showed their ability and progress they have made by finishing 4th overall, less than 0.2 seconds from winning a bronze. Next up were the senior coxless pair of Elizabeth Williams and Charlotte Seddon, again a fantastic 1000 metres followed as the girls finished in 4th, again less than 0.2 seconds off winning a bronze medal. Both girls crew continued to set a new standard for girls rowing at the King’s School after Fridays joy.

The boys then competed in the Championship coxed and coxless fours, both crews giving their best efforts in the most competative events in the regatta. The J16 coxless four followed shortly after. All three crews gave their best and represented the club with pride, on a normal day both the J16′s and coxed four would have qualified for the semi-final stage, however neither crew had the opportunity to build on their time trial pieces due to the format.

So there we are, NSR 2011 finished. King’s return with 4 golds, 1 bronze, 2 fourths and a fifth. Well done to all 100 competitors from the King’s School, still quite a few events to race after half term, including the small matter of womens and mens Henley.

A final note to the supporters and parents, many thanks to you all for the support over the weekend from the athletes and the coaches. The food and marquee were wonderful and those cheers on the finish line might just have been the difference for many of the King’s crews as they dashed for the finish line over the last three days.

A wonderful spirit and feeling at the regatta after the day of success yesterday. It was great to see so many supporters and athletes at the marquee during the day. A hard act to follow from yesterday, the senior crews set to the task. The senior girls schools coxed four and girls J15 coxed quad fell at the qualifiers but gave a good account of themselves. A busy hour over the lunch period saw both the boys and girls 1st VIIIs progress to the repechage’s, neither sadly able to make it out of them, the girls VIII in 7th overall, the boys in 9th. The J15 champ VIII also fell at the semi-final stage, leading at times in the first 1000 metres they eventually came 4th in their semi final. The J15 coxed four progressed to the final and put in a strong account of themselves, finishing overall in 5th. The J16 1st VIII went two better, winning a bronze medal in a solid row after an excellent performance in the semi final. The J15 2nd VIII retained the Mariners Trophy for the club, winning their semi-final by 3 lengths they continued their good form to win the final by over a length to give the club a very encouraging last hour of the day on the water. Todays medals add to yesterdays, the count at 4 golds and 1 bronze. Good luck to all who compete tomorrow in the last day of the regatta.

A remarkable afternoon in Nottingham, King’s not only triumphed in one event but three. The King’s School Rowing Club completed the triple in winning all three octuple events, the boys and girls 1st octuples and the boys 2nd octuples. Records to be checked but this must be the first time in the history of the regatta that all three have been won by one school. The athletes were a credit to the school, the boys 2nd VIII leading the charge and winning the 2nd Octuples by 3/4 length. The girls octuple then followed with a fantastic row to come from 2nd at 100 metre to go and win the event by 1 foot, the first gold medal for girls in the history of the King’s School. Four minutes later the boys 1st octuple repeated the same race plan, rowing through Shrewsbury in the last 100 metres to take the gold medal. A unique day in the history of the King’s School Rowing Club, congratulations to all the pupils involved and many congratulations to the J14 coaching team under the leadership of Duncan Little. The regatta continues tomorrow….

A good start to the weekends racing, all four J14 Octuples have qualified for the semi-finals later this afternoon. If you are thinking of watching this weekend please do come along, the rowing club has a marquee on this finish line, all parents and supporters are very welcome.

An excellent warm up day for the National Schools Regatta. Twelve club crews won events with a further five crews making finals. The girls 1^st VIII continued their good form with a clear victory over rivals Northwich R.C. The boys 1^st VIII fought hard against the Shrewsbury VIII to take them to a length, then breaking into fours to win the IM2 coxed four event, with the J16s taking the IM3 event. Both the boys and girls J15 coxed quads won, followed by the mixed 1^st and 2^nd J15 VIII beating Shrewsburys 3^rd VIII by a canvass in the Novice VIIIs event. The J14 quads also dominated, winning both A events in the boys and girls categories. Next came the J15 VIIIs, with KSRC beating Shrewsbury in both the 1^st and 2^nd VIIIs. This was followed by the J14 octuples, again, beating both comparable Shrewsbury crews to take the pots. In all an excellent warm up regatta for the club with some tough racing. With National Schools a week away the crews will now work hard on the Dee to find that extra speed before the main event of the year.

Congratulations to all who competed today, to all crews who won, especially those who won their first regatta. An excellent day for KSRC

Photographs of the day courtesy of David Wilkes (OKS):

http://djwilkes1.smugmug.com/Sport/Rowing/Miscellaneous-Recent-KSRC/17061410_McfXgB#1292087999_BzQqv7K

A successful day for the club with wins in the Invitational VIII’s race for the girls squad, the Girls J15 coxed four, novice single scull (William Marshall), J15 coxed fours and Novice VIIIs. Although the weather played havoc with the schedule over the lunchtime session the King’s athletes competed with pride and passion on home waters. For many it was their first competitive race and they acquitted themselves well.

The club won the senior Victor Ludorem by 1 point over Royals, an impressive victory considering the reduced line up that King’s fielded. The girls 1^st VIII put on an excellent show for the crowd as they went one better than last year in winning the invitational VIIIs event.

Day 1:

After the 5 hour long journey, we finally arrived at Lake Wimbleball. Although we were all very tired from getting out of bed at 5:30am, we started rigging all the boats ready to go out later on in the day. The girls were in quads and to start us off, we did two 1k pieces. The boys were in octs and a double, and practiced starts and technique paddling. We were on the lake that evening for about two hours when we eventually took the bus back to the Youth Hostel to have dinner and an early night!

Day 2:

After a good nights sleep, we were up bright and early for the day ahead. However, I don’t think we quite realised what it would entail! On the bus down to the lake, we were told the crews we were in for the day, so when we arrived, we could get the boats out quickly. The girls, having done over 10k in the morning, most of that seat racing, were most certainly ready for lunch! The boys soon followed having done many 500metres and 1ks.After a tiring morning, most went in small boats and the rest had yet more seat racing to do! Exhausted, we all crawled onto the bus and made our way back to the hostel, where dinner was waiting for us so we could all relax and watch a film in the lounge.

Day 3:

After a tiring day the day before, we were all apprehensive of what torture was to come! We had all had a cooked breakfast to get us ready for the day ahead, but luckily it wasn’t as bad as we thought! The girls were in octs and the boys in quads. We did a few 1k pieces to see whether they were medal winning times. The boys first oct got an impressive time of 3:16, the second achieved 3:24. The girls A gained a time of 3:28 and the girls B oct did some high-standard technique work, over a long course. This was a great start to the day and we all went to lunch with high spirits.

After rehydrating and sitting in the shade, we were prepared for the afternoon, in which the girls A oct did some fantastic technique paddling and some racing starts where we managed to hit rate 46, which was quite an achievement! We did this alongside the boys B oct who were giving us some good competition. To add to the pressure of the watchful eyes of Duncan and Steve, there was also a camera involved! We were filmed by Steve who won’t be remembered for his steady hand! The rest were enjoying themselves in small boats, soaking in the rays of sun which had been with us for the whole week. Later on in the evening, having had dinner, we analysed our performances from earlier in the day, and we also had a tremendous spectacle from Guy Lloyd who was showing off his Karate moves in the garden-his ‘flying kick’ being the definite highlight! We all decided to go to bed relatively early, wanting to perform to our optimum the next day.

Day 4:

Day four was our last day of training and when most were in small boats, some went out in octs and others in quads. We tried to make the most of our last day and I think its safe to say we did! With two swimmers, Scott Griffiths and Ben Paxton I’m guessing the water wasn’t quite as warm as the land! Having fun in doubles and singles brought the trip to a marvellous end! Once off the water, we de-rigged the boats and pushed the heavy trailer up the hill ready for John to collect the next morning. With around 40 people running up the bank gripping onto the trailer, it was a sight not to be missed! However, once we got back to the hostel, we had a surprise in store! We were told we were off to the cinema, which after a long week of rowing was a wonderful break! After watching the film, we made our way back to the hostel where we had hot chocolate, tea and snacks. This was a great end to a delightful week.

Day 5:

After having a ‘lie-in’, we got on the bus once again, but this time to make our last journey to Lake Wimbleball. We carried boats, riggers, and blades up the bank and sat in the shade for prize giving. Every crewmember was given an Easter egg for their hard work throughout the week! Special prizes were given to the unfortunates, Ben and Curly, who managed to fall in in their singles. They were kindly given bikini bottoms, and Curly, because his expensive sunglasses had sunk to the deepest depths of the lake, was given a pair of lovely women’s sunglasses.

 Although it was a tough week, everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. As well as learning new skills that we can introduce into our rowing careers, the week taught us how to really work together in our crews. The camp has prepared us for the summer of rowing ahead and most importantly National Schools Regatta. Finally, we would like to thank each of the coaches, Steve Levitt, Mike Southworth, Mike James, Helen Gillies, Duncan Little, and Mr Blackham for organising for such a fantastic camp in which we laughed, had fun and rowed our socks off! Also to John for delivering and collecting the boats and most importantly telling us not to damage them!

Zoe Soutter, Olivia Rogerson & Megan Pode WJ14 8x ‘11

    The King’s second trip to Belgium proved to be successful, challenging but undisputedly a huge success for everyone involved. Although the initial thought of a 12 hour coach journey seemed rather arduous, the boys were sensible and caught up on lost sleep quite soon after the coach’s departure at 00:15 on the Friday morning, many awoke at around 7am to see the sun rising over the horizon at Dover. After a ferry journey across The Channel and another sleepy journey across the northern border of Europe, excited faces perked up from the “Ghent Veterans” to see the familiar sight of the rowing lake. The J15’s soon caught on and the bus seemed to rise into life within 30 seconds, soon to be sunk back down at the thought of rigging boats!

    A short paddle on the water after rigging was the only practise any of the squad got before the big weekend-long event, but despite this, the crews quickly picked up into race mode to produce a very successful two days racing at the Gent Spring Regatta on the Saturday and The Flemish Championships on the Sunday.

    On the first day of racing, King’s achieved three medals, firstly in the J16 4- event, where King’s not only won the J16 4- event, but the J15 4- followed, chasing down their older counterparts to gain a silver medal. The 1^st VIII went on to win their J18 8+ heat comfortably, but gained a silver medal on time, missing out on the top spot by 2 seconds. It was great to see the support being given on the banks by the 500m mark to all the crews competing and the cheers never grew tired, despite King’s putting out a large fleet on the day.

   The following day, the medals nearly tripled, with the squad reaping in another five podium finishes. The J18 4- gained a bronze medal behind two strong fours, one of which being a Dutch National Squad four. This was matched by the J16 4+ who also secured a bronze medal in the J18 4+ category. Two more coxless fours went on to achieve silver medals, another J18 4- raced in the U23 4- category, caught in a dogfight with a much older crew for the majority of the race. The J16 4- also won another medal on top of their gold from the previous day. The last race of the day was J18 8+ category, where the 1^st VIII returned with no intent other than turning their silver medals into a much more satisfactory shade of gold. After being stroke-for- stroke for the first 500m, Kings edged away to beat their local Belgian rivals by a length and secured the Flemish Championship title for the second year running.

    After the successful two days of racing, the real task at hand was to be unfolded. Back at the hotel many rested up, caught up on revision and reminisced over the weekend’s events. As soon as Monday arrived, the training would begin again. The opportunity of having a lake with markers and straight lanes meant much more accurate timing between crews so the seat racing was to be a major part of the boys’ week. Watching the crews race over their distances in two or three coxed fours side by side showed a great deal of discipline. The squad showed good technique and mental determination to perform the countless 1km pieces without fuss and in an organised fashion, something that not only made the results fair and plentiful, but also showed how the boys have advanced through the year. To finish off the week, the whole Boys’ Squad had a last paddle in their new “rank-ordered” eights, the product of a week’s seat racing.

    Despite the weather not being the twenty odd degrees it had been for the majority of the camp, the boys left the lake on a high note. The Senior Boys’ did a time trialled 1km piece in the 1^st VIII and the newly formed 2^nd VIII, both crews pulling positive scores, but credit goes to the J15 A and J15 B eights, who despite being fatigued and ready to go home after a hard week, went to face a 2km piece against a fresh Monmouth J15 crew and Westminster, who have beaten the J15 A crew previously this year. I was turning the 1^st VIII to the bridge to paddle underneath and head to land, but managed to watch the J15 B VIII cruising smartly to bully around the Monmouth J15 VIII, the crew looking proud and strong as they moved towards the last few hundred meters. After the crews had passed, I took our eight into the stage, and told everyone to be quiet as we turned to look back at the bridge, seeing only a short section of the lake. Our whole eight was silent as we listened to the distant sounds of blades splashing and coxes shouting. We were all praying to see King’s move into the line of vision before the pink of Westminster, and as the noise grew louder and louder, half of Ghent would have been unsettle by the cheers of the 1^st VIII to see Mike Hamilton at bow sweep past the bridge. The J15 A’s went on to beat their Westminster counterparts comfortably.

    Ghent was fantastic. Simple. Apart from a great week’s worth of rowing, the whole squad bonded well together and many amusing moments were enjoyed by both athletes and staff, Freddie Green needs to be reminded to let go of the cox next time they throw him in! For me it has been the most enjoyable rowing experience I have had and the same can be said for many of the squad. I hope many future years can enjoy that week as much as the boys did.

Harry Brightmore – 1^st VIII Cox ‘11

A frustrating day for the competitors at Wallingford Regatta as the weather got the better of the event for the second year running. Of the King’s crews, only four were able to compete in the morning division, where in poor conditions both the girls and boys J16 crews found the going tough. The flagship boats, the 1^st VIIIs, for both the boys and girls, had encouraging rows. The boys 1^st VIII were unlucky not to qualify for the final in IM1 VIII’s, narrowly missing out on third position to Hampton School by 0.3 seconds, a considerable improvement on their schools head result. The girls 1^st VIII also made improvements, again narrowly missing out on 2^nd place in the final of the J18 VIIIs. Both crews displayed good improvements from the Easter training camp and will look to build on this over the next few weeks.

For all the other crews it was a day of frustration as the wind got the better of the event. Hopefully there will be better weather for next week’s regatta where the crews will feature on their home waters in the Chester Regatta.

Both camps have got off to an excellent start with fine weather and flat water. Both groups were able to get a session in on Monday night after arrival. Tuesday has been again excellent with soaring temperatures and calm winds.

An excellent days training, 20C+ warmth and a still lake for the morning session. The senior squads spent the day working on their technique whilst the J15′s did seat racing and some single sculls. All very tired tonight!

Updates from around Europe:

Saturday

Nottingham – Inter-Regionals

Congratulations to the Girls J15 coxed four who won bronze at the Inter-Regionals, the boat was stroked by Henrietta Green, 3 Amelia Barry, 2 Nia Hughes, Bow Nia Lewis and coxed by Urbi Sen. The Girl’s J14 coxed quad went two better, winning gold with Olivia Rogerson, Megan Douglas, Kitty Abberton, Sarah Lusher and Anna Longson (cox).

Ghent 

Three crews won medals on day 1 of the regatta, the J16 coxless four won gold, the J15 coxless four won silver. In the VIII’s the 1st VIII produced a strong row to finish on the podium in silver place.

Sunday

Wales Trials

Well done to Lizzie Williams who finished 3rd in the J18 single sculls qualifying races in Monmouth, competing for a place in this summers Home Countries International Welsh team.

Ghent

Day 2, Sunday: An excellent days racing in glorious Mediterranean conditions saw the best day for the King’s School Rowing Club inquite a while. Many medals were won, the day being finished off by a emphatic win by the 1st VIII to win the Flemish Championships.

Gold: 1st VIII (Junior Mens VIII’s)

Silver: J16 Coxless Four (J16 4-) / Senior 1st IV- (Junior Under 23 Coxless Fours)

Bronze: 1st 4- (J18 4-) / J18Coxed Fours (J16 4+)

Full Regatta Results – Crew Names/ Times

Held on the waters of Dorney Lake, the Olympic venue for rowing in 2012, the J14 squads competed for national glory at the National Junior Sculling Head. Both the boys’ and girls’ octuples drew a large entry from around the country. The girls’ octuples competed first, two legs of the 2000 metre lake. Attacking the course in their normal style, both the 1^st and 2^nd octuples posted excellent times, with final standings of 3^rd out of 17 crews for the 1^st octuple, the 2^nd octuple finishing 11^th.

With a bronze medal already gained from the girls, the boys took to the water in their octuples.  For the 1^st octuple, this was their first competition as a crew. With racing conditions improving by the hour, the water was now flattening off for the last division of the day. The 2^nd octuple had a good run, finishing in 3^rd place out of 13 crews. The 1^st octuple grew in confidence as the race continued and surpassed all expectations eventually finishing in 1^st place out of the 45 crews in total. A wonderful end to the day and a gold medal for the nine boys who made up the 1^st VIII. (Michael Ellis/ Aaron Soutter/ Lucas Martin-Yates/ Scott Griffiths/ Ben Monk/ Alex Slater/ Ben Paxton/ Harry Stables & William Blacklock)

Bumper day for the girls at the North of England Head

On a calm and cool day, the North of England Head,  an eights and fours race on the Dee was contested by clubs from around the country. King’s played host to both Durham University and Monmouth School for the day as the club was alive with activity and nervous anticipation. The race over 5K is for many a final warm up before the Head of the River Race in London next Saturday, for King’s, a last run out over a head race course before the excitement of the summer regatta calendar.

The girls’ squads showed King’s continued development on the circuit. The J14 girls continued their good run of form, winning the octuple sculls against local rivals the Grange School. The J15 coxed quad (Eleanor Barnard/ Alice Carr/ Amelia Barry/ Henrietta Green/ Imogen Hill) took the J15 title against local opposition. The girls 1^stVIII finished the head race season on a high. With first caps awarded to Lucy Simmonds, Hannah Lawrence-Smith and Rachael Alcock, the VIII stormed to victory in the Womens junior category.

The boys J14 and J15 squads also had a good representation in the race. Three J14 coxed quads raced, including a crew comprising of athletes all competing in their first ever race. The J15 boys competed in three VIII’s. All three crews competed well, with the day belonging to the 2^nd VIII again, just 3 seconds behind the 1^st VIII. The depth and drive of the J15 squad is encouraging, both of these aspects will push the young squad on over the next few weeks in their preparation for the regatta season.

The school raced seven VIII’s at the recent Schools Head of the River Race in London. Competing in six events, King’s returned a mix of results. The boys 1^st VIII rowed well to stay in the top 10, putting the pressure on Shrewsbury early in the race, the VIII worked hard down the tideway course, eventually finishing in a credible 9^th position. The girls 1^st VIII again rowed well but were disappointed not to break into the top 6, again a strong row from the girls, they will need to work hard on their training camp in Henley to close the gap on their competitors ready for the regatta season.

The J16 VIII had a disappointing day, finishing 7^th in championship J16 VIII’s, there is much more to come from this VIII who will look to turn their fortunes around when they spend a week in Ghent on lake waters. The J15 squad produced some promising results, however the 6^th position finish from the championship VIII was not a reflection of the progress the VIII has made and they will be targeting the medals at the National Schools Regatta. Both the J15 2^nd and 3^rd VIII had good rows, the 2^nd VIII finishing 3^rd in their respective division, the 3^rd VIII 2^nd. Both VIII’s will push into the summer season with a degree of confidence after encouraging rows on the tideway.

The club also boated its first ever senior girls 2^nd VIII, racing in championship VIII’s. The girls produced the row of the day, finishing 11^th and beating eight championship girls 1^st VIIIs. With two J15’s in the girls 2^nd VIII and one J15 in the girls 1^st VIII the results were extremely encouraging for the development of the girl’s side of the club.

Results from the Shrewsbury match and the inter-regional qualifiers can be found on the events page

King’s continued their good run of form at the Trent Head of the River in Nottingham. With most schools on half term it was an opportunity to race club and university crews. The King’s School Rowing Club walked away with two category wins along with some very encouraging times. In division 1 both the 1^st VIII and J16 VIII competed in senior events, with the 1^st VIII finishing in overall 8^th place of the day and as the quickest schoolboy VIII. The J16 VIII came a credible 23^rd overall in the VIIIs competition. The senior girls’ squad raced in two coxed fours, the A boat , in the quickest women’s’ four time of the day won the senior women’s’ coxed four event by 14 seconds, an excellent margin over such a short course.

Division 2 was the turn of the J15 squad. A 1^st and 2^nd VIII competed in the novice division, the 2^nd VIII finishing 16^th overall, the 1^st VIII missed the winning the event by 0.7 second, a very encouraging result as the winning crew was from Nottingham University! The coxed four came 5^th overall.

King’s had three fours in division 3. The J16 coxed four raced well to finish in a time of 17:35, the senior coxed four narrowly missed out on a win to a crew from St Peters School in a time of  17:10. The row of the division went to the first coxless four, who, as they have quietly throughout the season continued to post excellent times, their time 16:32 was enough to win the coxless four event and  was the quickest sweep four time of the day.

Well done to James Edholm and John Marsden who recently competed in the GB February trials. Competing in a coxless pair, the duo dealt with the harsh conditions well to finish 14th in a strong national field. With conditions poor throughout the day all the crews had to compete against driving wind and rain. The pair were able to produce an excellent time of 20 minutes and 51 seconds which has been rewarded with an invite to the next set of GB trials at Easter.

The King’s School Rowing Club had a very successful weekend at the recent Hampton Head race in London. The race draws competitors and crews from across the UK and  has over 20 crews in most categories. The school entered 14 crews in total, with 10 crews finishing in the top 5 in their category. There were three outstanding performances on the day, in their first national level race the J14 girls octuple won their category, as did the J15 boys second eight and the J15 boys coxed four. The girls J15 coxed four came second in their event along with the J15 Championship eight and the J14 coxed quad. In all, the King’s J14 & J15 crews dominated the junior draw with medal wins in both girls and boys categories. The senior girls squad also competed well, the girl’s 1^st VIII, in their first competition of the season came joint 3^rd with rival school Headington from Oxford.

On Saturday 5^th February, the rowing club compete in the Hampton’s IV’s and VIII’s Head, held on the River Thames. Rowers from throughout the club were involved, with 14 crews from the J14, J15 and Girls Senior Squads racing. Pupils travelled down to London on Friday night to race the 3,000m course the following day. Despite windy and cold conditions, excellent results were produced throughout the day. Division 1 saw the J14 Boys 4x+ gaining 2^nd place in their event, missing out on the top spot by only 2 seconds, while the Boys J14 8x+ came an encouraging 8^th. The Boys J15 4+ also produced an excellent result, winning their event by over 4 seconds. On the Girls side, meanwhile, the two Girls J14 4x+’s came 13^th and 19^th and the Girls J15 4+ produced a pleasing result by coming 2^nd in their event. Perhaps the strongest result of Division 1 was the performance of the J14 Girls 8x+ who won their event and beat the time of the J14 Boys 8x+!

In the afternoon Kings produced further encouraging results. In Division 2, the Boys J15 1^st VIII came 2^nd in their event beating the next crew, Bedford Modern, by over 7 seconds. Furthermore, the J15 B C VIII’s came 1^st and 5^th providing some good results for the J15 squad. Against fierce competition the Girls J15 4x+ struggled a little coming in 16^th. However, the Girls Senior Squad produced some good results. The J16 4x- came 4^th, a positive result as two of the crew were J15’s. Additionally, the Girls J18 4+ came 5^th against some tough competition, while the Girls J18 8+ produced a strong result, coming joint 3^rd with Headington School.  As an important event, Hampton showed the rowers that although the hard work must continue through the Lent term, a lot of progress has been made over the winter period, particularly in the case of the J14 rowers.  All of the Kings crews raced extremely well and acquired some very pleasing results. Well done to everyone who participated, keep working towards the Schools and Scullers Heads in March.

 Charlotte Seddon – Vice-Captain 2011

Submitted by Tim Pemberton

J15 season 2007-2008

Review to be found on the reviews page, the final results will be posted on the events page. Many thanks to all who contributed. Have a very, merry christmas from all the staff at the rowing club.

Results: Senior Pudding Races – Results 2010

11 VIII’s competed for the coverted puddings on the 11thDecember 2011. In addition to this twelve J14 teams competed in a team format for the junior puddings. It was a wonderful morning and a fitting end to successful term. Along with supporters and parents there were well over 200 people at the boathouse to witness some excellent racing, results of which can be found on the events page.

In addition to this, we welcomed both the Mayor of Chester and the MP for Chester, Mr Stephen Mosley, to the club who between them witnessed the racing and presented the awards to the winning crews at the end of the day.

Congratulations to both Harry Ashworth and Freddy Hill who completed their 42K row for charity on the ergo’s, both boys did extremely well to complete the challenge and raise money for their charity work in Peru next summer.

The formal part of the morning was the official boat naming ceremony. The club was very proud to welcome back Sam Arnot(OKS 2009 & silver junior worlds medallist) Ollie Holt (OKS 2010, past club captain and Leander oarsman) Mrs Jones representing her son Stephen (OKS 2009, past club captain and silver junior worlds medallist). Three new boats were named after these athletes who have achieved great things at an early age. The new girls 1st VIII was also named after our boatman, John Blackwell, who after thirty years service to the club launched the girls new flagship with pride.

Many thanks to the King’s School Rowing Club Parents Association, who, without the help the morning would not have been possible. Especially to Nicki Miller & Nigel Seddonand all who helped with the food and barbeque on the morning to make it a truly memorable event.

In near arctic conditions, King’s set off for their annual match against Shrewsbury School. A healthy rivalry remains between the schools and the junior sections of the club continued this in conditions at times which were below freezing! After five divisions of racing over an 1800metre course Shrewsbury had the edge over the J14 King’s boys, however it was great to see so many newcomers to the sport racing for the first time. The King’s J14 girls looked strong and beat many of their rivals from the boy’s side at Shrewsbury. In the J15’s the day belonged to King’s, with the crews racing in matched VIII’s, the King’s VIII’s dominated; winning all three divisions, with division 3 seeing a King’s 1^st and 2^nd place overall. It was also encouraging to see J15 3^rd VIII’s boated from both clubs.

As the senior squad headed south, the J15 squad made its way north to Liverpool to race locally. Competing in the two leg head race the J15 Squad acquitted themselves well. The girl’s quad continues to march on, beating Lancaster schools in their event. The J15 3^rd VIII continued their development by beating local novice VIII rivals from the area. The 1^st & 2^nd VIII’s raced twice on the day, showing greater maturity on each leg of the course. Encouraging times were set by all, especially the 1^st VIII which finished only 18 seconds behind Grosvenor’s men’s 1^st VIII on one of the runs.

On Sunday 5th November, both senior squad’s entered into the Wallingford IV’s and VIII’s Head of the River Race. This saw the top two Women’s Eights and the top three Men’s Eights departing from King’s at 6am toward the south, and, despite the sub-zero temperature “up north”, it proved to be near perfect conditions for racing on the Thames. The club had it’s positives and negatives throughout the day, showing that the work needs to be put in right from the word go. Although a relatively young squad, sights should always be set high. The Women’s J16 8+ achieved a 2nd place in their event, missing out by a few seconds to  William Borlase School. This should be an encouraging result for the girls, seen as there were three J15′s in the boat. The Women’s IM3 8+ gained 10th place against strong opposition. The Boys J16 8+ came 7th, the IM3 8+ came 6th and the IM1 8+ 9th, each in their respective events, showing that there is a great deal to be done through the winter months. The first results against bigger competition, although revealing, will ultimately provide us with something to think about over Christmas. Don’t let the work slow down, and keep working onwards and upwards to March’s Schools Head.

Harry Brightmore – KCH cox ’10

King’s Girl’s Lead the Way at Northwich

 The King’s School Rowing club had an excellent day at the recent Northwich Autumn Head held on the River Weaver. Out of the seven girl’s fours entered, four won their events with the other three coming in second, third and fourth. It was a dominating performance from the crew boats of King’s. The senior girl’s lead the way by being the quickest coxed four of the day by 13 seconds. The Under 18 four won their event by a bigger margin. The under 14 boat also dominated their event, beating off local rivals Pengwern and Runcorn. Perhaps the strongest performance of the day was the under 16 quad, with crew members Henrietta Green, Eleanor Barnard, Alice Carr and Rachel Alcock, three of whom are still 14, they not only won their event but also the Sue Benyon trophy for the quickest women’s crew of the day.

The boy’s junior squads also put in strong performances. The under 14’s raced well beating rivals Shrewsbury School in the junior quads, the under 15’s also overcame local rivals Shrewsbury in a close race, seeing the King’s crew win by a margin of 6 seconds.

King’s had an extremely encouraging day at the recent Agecroft Head, hosted by Agecroft Rowing Club at the Salford Quays in Manchester. In division 1, nine J15 scullers competed against the best in the North West, on this occasion Nial Barrow came out on top, finishing fourth overall in his category, narrowly beating Alec Davies.

In division 2 the senior VIII competing in IM3 VIII’s posted the quickest time of the day, taking home the VIII’s pennant. The J16 boys competing at novice level only narrowly missed out, coming in second in the Novice VIII’s category. The J16 quad won their event, defeating opposition from Agecroft and Runcorn. The J14 boys, competing in their first rowing event produced excellent times in their coxed quads.

In division 3 the senior coxless four (Miller/Hill/Marsden/Ashworth) resumed a battle against their counterparts from Shrewsbury, eventually finishing second in the division, ten seconds off their arch rivals. The IM3 Coxed four (Cartmell/ Constantinou/Collicutt/Stables/Brightmore) saw off their rivals from Shrewsbury and eleven other crews to take the medals back to Chester. The J16 Coxed Fours came in first and second in their division. The J15 coxed fours narrowly missed out on victory, coming second and third in their division. It was also great to see eight J14 girls competing in their first regatta, once again posting very respectable times in the J14 coxed quads events.

Finally, the Senior Girls competed in two matched VIII’s, both crews exceeded expectations in finishing second and fourth, with only the senior women’s VIII from Royal Chester able to hold them off. An encouraging result from both VIII’s showing a good level of depth in the senior girl’s squad.

Overall King’s had an excellent day, recording six category wins and showing good depth and strength at each age level.

The guardians report on the Ryder cup for Sunday read “Er, the weather,  has delayed play until at least noon. To be frank that looks unlikely – it’s like a car wash out there.” This was true also for the Chester long distance sculls, except for one small difference, rain definitely didn’t not stop play on the Dee on Sunday morning. Nor did it appear to dampen the spirits of the King’s School Chester crews who competed well against local rivals in the first race of the season. Twenty four crews raced from the club, from J15’s through to the senior squad.

Division 1, which saw the worst of the monsoon, had the senior boys competing for early season glory in the single sculls. An early season leader appeared, that of Harry Ashworth in the J18 Sculls, James Edholm and Will Miller following closely behind. The girls J18 quad won their event, the girls J16 quad came a very encouraging third in theirs.

It was the turn of the of the boys quads and girls sculls in the afternoon division. The boy’s senior squads took home both the J18 and J16 quad victories, the J18 crew posting the 5^th quickest time of the day. Six boy’s crews raced from the J15 squad, each crew performing well and showing good early season speed. The J15 girl’s quad also showed good promise. Out of the four girl’s scullers, Eleanor Barnard took an early season confidence boost in the J16 singles in what was a very competitive field.

An encouraging start, much more to come as the crew heads to agecroft head in two Saturdays time.

Congratulations to the four upper sixth boys on their selection for GB teams this summer. Inigo Atkin will represent GB at the Junior World Championships, Sam Wilson and James Kinsey will compete for team GB at the Coupe (Junior European Championships) whilst Oliver Holt will race in the England VIII at the Home Countries Regatta in Cork, Ireland. The very best of luck to the four boys over the next three weeks as they prepare for their individual events.

Three VIII’s headed to Nottingham City Regatta on Saturday in the hope of some preparation racing for next weekend’s Nationals Schools. With temperatures soaring into the high 20’s all three crews put in strong performances. The 1st VIII squad, broken into a coxless four and coxed four rowed well in the morning session to reach their respective finals. The coxless four produced a strong effort in the final to come fourth, racing the top senior crews of the days. The coxed four also had a strong row and finished 2nd in the final in what was their best performance to date. The 1st VIII failed to progress out of their heat in what was again a senior event but produced a good first 1000 metres of the race which they can hopefully replicate next week.

The two J15 VIII’s raced at senior novice VIII level. Both progressed and met in the final, the B VIII winning their heat, the A VIII coming in second in theirs. The final was competitive, with both VIII’s putting in season best times down the course and finishing in 2nd & 3rd places in a 5 boat final.

Over 70 pupils competed at Shrewsbury Regatta on Saturday. The last race for many of the crews before the National Schools Championships in two weeks time, the King’s crews were in good form. The under 14 squad started the day off well. The boys A octuple put in an impressive performance to beat the Shrewsbury A octuple, who were the quickest boat at the national sculling head in March. Both crews will be training hard in the search for a gold medal at Nottingham. In the A quads Shrewsbury got their revenge over the King’s A Quad, however in the B quads final it was an all King’s affair after the other 14 Quads had been eliminated, it came down to a King’s A verses King’s B final, the A boat winning the pots eventually. The under 14 girls had a tough day, having to compete in the boys event for better practice before Nottingham, however they sculled with pride as they pushed Shrewsbury boys B octuple close over the 900 metre course.

The seniors raced hard all day as they competed in fours and eights. The senior boys 1st & J16 VIII’s raced Shrewsbury’s respective crews over the course 3 times each in a preparation match, although the King’s crews kept fighting, Shrewsbury were to strong for the seniors on their home waters. The J16 VIII then broke into Novice coxed fours, the event run in two divisions, both events were won by the King’s crews in each half of the draw. The 1st VIII also rallied and put in strong performances in the IM2 coxed four event, which saw another Kings Vs Kings race in the final.

The senior girls continues their strong form, winning the under 18 VIII’s event by three lengths over the King’s School Worcesters Girls 1st VIII. The under 15 girls had a tough day but showed development, the B girls four loosing out to RGS Worcester, the A girls four losing to the Grange school by a 1/4 length after leading for most of the race.

Over 20 KSRC crews competed at the Chester Regatta this Saturday. Competing on home waters and in front of local support, the King’s crews competed in most of the events offered. Whilst for some it was the first taste of racing this summer, others excelled as they competed in their fourth regatta of the season. The J14 coxed quad reached the plate final, it was also great to see some of the junior squad compete for the first time in a regatta. The J15 squad won the year group coxed fours event, in both the boys and girls events with the first win of the season for Hannah Lawrence-Smith, Hannah Dent, Victoria Seddon, Rachael Alcock and cox Grace Young. the boys also competed in the senior events, giving both Agecroft and Grosvenor senior men’s VIII’s a good run for their money. The boys senior squad won both the major coxed fours events of the day, the J18 and senior event with strong rows in each. The girls 1st VIII season went from strength to strength, after winning the senior women’s VIII event, they went on to compete in the elite long course race, reaching the final and only loosing by less than three metres to the senior women’s VIII from Grosvenor Rowing Club, an excellent result over the 1800 metre course and by far the most dramatic and well supported finish of the day as the two crews raced towards the line.

Sam Wilson and James Kinsey both raced for the Great Britain Under 18 team this weekend at Munich International Regatta in Germany. Although the full sets of results are yet to be released it appears both boys competed with pride in their first ever rows in national colours.

Chester Race ResultsChester Regatta Results

The weekend saw a conclusion to a successful few weeks for the rowing club. With the season opener at Ghent yielding 4 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals. The club’s inter-regional’s representatives went to Nottingham this weekend in good form.

King’s had qualified three crews for the north-west team, which takes on the 11 other regions in the U.K. over the 1500 metre course at Nottingham. Each crew returned with medals, the boys under 14 quad came a competitive third, the girls under 14 quad went one better winning the silver medals. The curtain raiser of the day was the boys under 16 eights event, which was the last race of the day. King’s led the race before loosing out by a canvas to arch rivals Hampton School, a close race which rewarded the crew with a silver medal and an already much anticipated rematch at Wallingford Regatta next weekend.

J14 quads
Bronze medals
Toby Miller, Niall Barrow, Alec Davies, Mike Hamilton & Oliver Bird

Girls J14 Quad
Silver medal

Henrietta Green, Alice Carr, Eleanor Barnard, Hayley Milner & Pippa Higgins

J16 Eights
Silver Medal

Harry Ashworth, Will Miller, John Marsden, Freddy Hill, Alex Constantinou, David Cartmell, Tom Stables, Charlie Collicutt & Harry Brightmore

http://users.telenet.be/gentsers/regatta2010/index.html

Out of the hostel early to make our way to the course for the last day of the camp. Competitive racing all day again with many crews picking up medals through the day. Strong performances from the senior squads were matched by the J15 boys and girls squads. After the racing the trailer was loaded before a BBQ and departure for the Chester. With exhausted legs and tired heads the coach returned to Chester at 3am, followed by the trailers at 6am. Well done and thank you to all the coaches and athletes who made the week so successful and enjoyable for all.

28 entries from the King’s School and very strong results from the club all day, culminating in the boys 1st VIII winning the junior mens VIII’s over domestic and international crews.

A good mornings racing and training in preparation for the regatta tomorrow. A full fleet will be racing over the weekend and with the progress made over the last few days hopes are high. Racing starts at 0800 in the morning with the J16 4-. The trip to the supermarket today proved popular, with bags of food collected for the weekend and good weather forecast it should be an exciting event for all.

A fantastic days training with a couple of hours in Ghent.  All the crews did over 20K on the lake, at one point there were five King’s VIII’s across the 5 lanes of the course racing. Spirits are still high and apart from a few blisters everyone is just about holding together!

All crews completed three outings after an early rise, every crew and athlete took to the water in what was an excellent day of rowing. We returned to the hostel at 7pm for food and then sleep which was needed! We had our first capsize of the camp today, a long story to be told by a J15, but all ok. Everyone fit and healthy and ready for the morning and a further few K on the waters of Ghent before a trip to the city.

All arrived at the hostel after a long days travel. We arrived at the course with 20 C temperatures and brilliant sunshine. The water looks great and all the crews can’t wait to get out. A few problems with the tow vehichle which decided to break down at Ostend which put pay to the outing this evening but a jog around the lake worked out well for all. All back in the hostel now, fed and watered and ready for the morrow.

All 32 athletes have returned home safely after a successful trip to Monmouth. After four days of sculling, climbing mountains and playing indoor football the crews have returned with added experience and excitement for the summers racing ahead. Many thanks to the coaches who worked so hard during the week to make it an enjoyable camp for all and the J14 squad for working so hard during the four days away.

The Lent term has been extremely busy, 11 VIII’s have established themselves and competed with growing confidence over the Lent Term’s racing. There have been many high points of the term, the following deserving of a mention:
• James Kinsey, Inigo Atkins, Oliver Holt & Sam Wilson’s finish position of 3rd & 4th Pair at the GB under 18 trials places four King’s rowers in the top eight nationally at that age group and was an excellent set of results. They now continue to the next set of trials in a bid to win their 1st GB cap of the season.
• The Boys 1st VIII finishing position of 5th in championship VIII’s at the schools head is the best finishing position since 2005
• The Girls 1st VIII finishing position of 9th in championship VIII’s is an excellent first result for the girls who have not competed in this event in the last 5 years.
• At Hampton Head the crews made a great start to the term, dominating the J15 VIII’s event with the J14’s, both boys and girls putting down a strong marker for the season.
• The schools & sculling Head saw 8 of the 11 VIII’s from King’s finish in the top 5 crews in their respective events.
• At the North of England Head King’s won 4 out of the 8 categories they were racing in, including the girls crews winning 3 out of the 4 categories that they were in.
• The school has qualified three crews for the Inter-Regional’s North-West team. The boys J16 VIII, and both the girls and boys J14 coxed quads.
In all it has been a very encouraging term. Over a 100 pupils have represented the school in a range of events. On top of the work on the water, £1300 was raised at the triathlon in January. Over the Easter break all the squads head off on training camps, the seniors to Ghent in Belgium, the juniors to Monmouth.

North of England Head – Results 2010 – Div.1North of England Head – Results 2010 – Div.2