Chronicle Summer 2023

54 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Rowing By Head of Rowing, Adam Moffatt

The Spring Term brought great excitement to the Boat Club as it saw the arrival of new faces and the build up to one of the main events in the calendar, The Schools’ Head of the River Race. With river levels once again high, it proved difficult for some of the younger and less experienced rowers to get started, however the time was used to work on their fitness in the gym and skills in our beginner boats closer to the Boathouse.

4th place finish. The J16 boys VIII raced for the first time since last summer and put in a solid first performance finishing 7th. Wycliff Head was the next event in the calendar and a good test over a 4.5km course. The girls’ 1st VIII won their division and were the second fastest girls’ VIII of the day, finishing ahead of Sir William Perkins, King’s School Worcester, The King’s School Chester and Shrewsbury. The boys’ 1st VIII also finished a comfortable second, ahead of Shrewsbury School and The King’s School Chester and the Teddies 2nd VIII won their category. On the same day as Wycliffe, we sent our J15s to Hampton Head for their first race of the season. Having completed just four sessions due to flooding, they put on a great performance finishing 11th out of 20 boats and left ready to push on once they could get more water time. A second J15 VIII was due to race at Radley in a private fixture but due to illness this was postponed. Next on the list was a trip to Reading University Head with 2nd place finishes for the girls’ 1st VIII, and boys’ 1st and 2nd VIIIs. The J15 boys raced in two VIIIs, with the A crew winning their event and the B crew placing 4th. The J16 VIII unfortunately withdrew due to illness and our J15 and J16 girls were finally getting some time on the water back at Godstow with the river levels starting to become safer. The final Leave Weekend of the term was just before the Schools’ Head and provided an opportunity for three senior crews to attend the North of England Head of the

the river can gain you significant time. The senior boys raced in matched crews with just four seconds between them. The senior girls showed that, despite some illness, they had enough depth and quality in the squad to be challenging for the medals with a good

The Seniors competed in the first race of the term, Quintin Head. The race provides an opportunity for crews to get a run down a section of the course that is used for the Schools’ Head and is particularly valuable for the coxes, as being in the right place on

The J16 VIII at Reading Head