The National Schools' Regatta runs over three days. J14s and J15s race on Friday, while the remainder of the club race over the course of the weekend.
Friday AM
After an early wake up, the day started off with time trials for all the J14 and J15 crews. For the J14 4x+ they placed 8th in the time trial, the two J14 8x+ they came 10th and 4th. The two J15 4x+ both came 5th in their time trials.
Friday PM
For all the J14 this was their first National schools and for most of them their first time at such a big event doing side by side racing. Despite the new environment all crews produced some great results with the coxed quad coming 6th in the B final, the 1st and 2nd Octo coming 5th in the B final and 4th in the A final respectively. With our seniors arriving just in time to cheer on the younger girls in their finals, they now waited for the J15s to start their finals. It first kicked off with the 2nd coxed quad in their A final where they placed 6th. The final race of the day was the 1st coxed quad, racing in a competitive field they brought home a Bronze medal! A great way to start the weekend of racing ahead and lots of experience gained!
Saturday AM
The morning started off with time trials for all the crews. Our two championship eights came 2nd and 7th and our J16 eights came 3rd and 1st. With very strong performances in the time trial the Champ eights were done with racing for today and the J16 eights got ready for their finals that afternoon
Saturday PM
First to race was the J16 2nd 8+, who won by 20 seconds in a dominant race. Next up was the J16 1st eight who had a nail biting race but pushed through in the final 250m to take home a bronze medal. A great day of racing and congratulations to our girls for taking home two medals!
Sunday AM
With stormy, unpredictable weather forecasted later that day, the girls set plans to race each run like it was their last. Early that morning, the four raced the time trial, qualifying for the B final. The Champ 8+ and 2nd 8+ were in the AB semi-final together against two Marlow crews, two Lady Eleanor Holles crews, and Hinksey. The first 8+ won by 0.02 seconds against Hinksey and the 2nd 8+ came a close 4th just narrowly missing out on 3rd to Marlow by a second margin. However, both crews qualified into the A final with the 2nd 8+ being the only second eight to reach the A final demonstrating great depth within our squad.
Sunday PM
That afternoon, the four won in the B final by 2 seconds after turning the tide at the 1000m mark. Later into the evening the weather thankfully held out for the Championship 8+ A final. In a thrilling race it all came down to the last 250m with our first eight going bowball for bowball with St Edward’s for silver in which it unfortunately landed on their side with a gap of 0.06 separating the two crews, and Hinksey taking the win. The 2nd 8+ produced a very strong race coming 7th in the A final by second to Marlow, however their time meant they won the second eight category with all the other eights racing in the B final. Some very strong performance from both of our crews this day taking away a bronze and gold!
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