Mr Murison reports on the most recent regatta that GMSBC has competed in.
“As regular readers will know, this is the biggest of the Junior National Regattas. It is only eclipsed for Sixth Formers by Henley Regatta. Our headline performance this year is not as colourful as in recent past, with no medals. However, the two medal winning crews from last year – Boys J16 4+ (last year’s Year 10 Silver medallists) and Boys J18 4- (last year’s Year 11 Silver medallists) both had great races with the whole field bunched over less than a boat length between them. The level of competition is forever getting tougher with entry levels sky rocketing. There were over 5,400 competitors over the three days.
We went to the regatta with high expectations, looking to compete seriously for five medals. As it turned out, despite the lack of actual silverware, the crews did incredibly well. After a disappointing showing from the girls last year with the top crew coming 17th and the Year 10s coming 19th (no Year 11crews), the current squad did an amazing job ranking 5th (Yr 12/13), 7th (Year 11) and 5th (Year 10) respectively. A tremendous improvement over one year.
Of our top crews, boys and girls, Year 10 through to Sixth Form, all six crews finished in the top 7 in their event. Which is a great tribute to the ‘Great Marlow Grit!’
Friday
Our Year 9 Octos suffered from practice on water (for two winters in a row), consequently, they still have a lot to learn in regard to consistently pushing themselves, as well as technical skills. Having said this both progressed from the time trial to a final, which was a step better than the Junior Sculling Regatta. Sadly, due to tricky winds they raced the finals as another time trial, which did little to encourage the rowers.
The Year 10 boys possibly under-cooked the time trial, just missing out on the A (medal) final. But when the time came for the side by side, they kept their nerve and little by little established a commanding lead over the rest of the field: 7th overall.
The Year 10 girls came 5th in their time trial but were looking forward to showing their power in the side by side A-final. By late afternoon, the wind had swung round from a straight head wind to a cross/head from the opposite side. This means they were rowing in the worst conditions and while they fought incredibly to be right in the thick of it, with 500m to go, the conditions were against them and they had to settle for 5th.
Saturday
Henry Froome was our first ever championship Single Sculler. He did a tremendous job in the time trial to qualify for the repechage. In the semi, Henry had a slow start and was in last position at half way. At 500m to go, he had progressed up the field and was close to 5th place. Yet, with just 500m to go he was still some lengths off fourth. In a blistering finish he rowed through the sculler ahead of him to end 4th and as a qualifier for the D-final, which was a great achievement in his first championships in a Single.
The Year 11 Boys’ Coxed Four had a solid time trial through to the A-final where they lined up against Shiplake, Dulwich College, Kings Ely and Pangbourne and new comers Lymington.
Kings Ely got off to flying start and led through the first 500m, but less than a second covered the top four crews and while the lead changed here and there the pack was very tight for the whole race. On the finish line there was one and a half seconds from Gold to fourth in an incredibly tight race. GMS were fourth.
The J18 Coxless Four also qualified for the A-final, which as a championship event was an eight-boat final. As a mainly Year 12 crew, they had their work cut out in this J18 (Year 13) event. Again, the spread of boats from 2nd to 6th was well under a length for most of the race with the Wallingford Four a little ahead in Gold position. Back in Year 10 this crew managed to overhaul three crews in the last 500m to win Gold, but at this level it was not to be. In this top class race they maintained the pressure on the leaders but came 5th overall.
Sunday
As in any good report one saves the best till last. Our Senior Girls’ Pair, of Kayla Shillito and Elise Whyte, had an aggressive time trial overtaking the crews around them. They were set on securing a place in the A-final, which they did. This was a major achievement and a final placing of 5th, after a blistering last 500m in their final, saw them move up a place. This was a great result in this championship national event.
The Year 11 Girls’ Quad, Georgina Greening, Ivy Tomkinson, Claudia Stewart and Lily Nickless (Steers) racing against a large field were keen to improve on their D-final ranking in Year 10 last year. (There was no Year 11 crew last year.) The time trial went well and starting in the middle of the pack, with many of the faster crews after them, there was an anxious wait as the results came in. At first, they were ranked 6th but as each crews’ time came in some were faster and they ticked lower in the order. With all results in they were in 11th position, one ahead of Borlase and a couple behind Marlow. congratulations to them for performing so well in this B-final.
With half the crews coming from Marlow, the final became very personal and no prisoners were to be taken. GMS did not have the best of starts and at 500 gone they lay last, over 3 seconds off the leaders, Grange. The Great Marlow supporters’ tent was at 900m gone and the supporter’s team had spread along the bank to cheer them on. The girls made a big push at this stage in the race, using the cheering parents and carers to fuel their hard work and by the half way mark they lay in 3rd only a second off Grange. While the effort had been draining their momentum and boat speed couldn’t be resisted. Little by little the GMS girls edged closer to the front. Grange slipped from the lead and Marlow Rowing Club became the main competition. With 500m to go GMS just had their bows in front and the mad charge for the finish line began. Given the pace of their race to this point, did they still have enough to hold their slender lead? With 250m left they had done just that. Unfortunately, over the last 250m, despite showing amazing grit, they could not hold on. The Grange upped their rate and moved into the lead to win by a length over Marlow in second place.
A great last day to this three day epic.”
