On Saturday 26th April, Mr Murison and Mr Sloan took three sets of Fours and Quads up to Nottingham for the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta.
The first race of the day was the J16 (Year 11 boys) Coxed Four, which meant an early 5 am departure for them.
As with many major regattas the event started with a time trial to seed the finals. The time trial was over 1000m, which was shorter than the side by side finals and meant there were tight time differences at the top of each event.
The boys put down the fastest time in their time trial, just under two seconds ahead of second place. Having said this, they came off the water feeling comfortable and not over stretched; they felt they were in a good position for a win later in the day.
While waiting for the rest of the squad to arrive, Mr Murison went to see the Master in Charge of Rowing at Westminster School, who organises the Schools Head of the River.
Much to his joy, the Master in Charge had GMS’s winners’ pennant and medals from the Boys’ First Eight ‘race-win’ from this year’s Schools Head – School First Eights trophy. This a significant first-win in GMSBC history and only the fourth time the school has won any event at the Schools Head.
At the regatta, the next group to race were the J15 Boys’ Coxed Four. They had a solid row, excepting a couple of wobbles and a crab, which meant they felt there was room for improvement. When results came through, they were second in the time trial, only 3.5 seconds behind the crew who came in first. Which while significant by no means ruled out a much-wanted Gold.
The WJ16 Girls’ Quad was the last crew to race; they were looking to improve on their scullery result from last term. The short distance in fast conditions made times very tight at the top of their event, with under two seconds between fourth , where they came in and second place. So a tight and exciting final was anticipated.
The finals followed the same order. The J16 Boys’ Coxed Four lined up as favourites on the start line. Regular readers may remember that this crew won a nail-biting Gold at National Schools last year, coming from last place after 250m to win Gold in the last five strokes of the race. GMS’s coach had devised a race plan that, hopefully, saved his heart rate a bit and meant a more aggressive first half. Out of the blocks, GMS were up with the fastest three boats, but Kingston Grammar School, in lane two, made an early push to try to establish a lead. However, by 500m their push was fading and GMS took the lead shortly afterwards. To be honest, from there on in there was a neck and neck race for the other medals but Gold was never in doubt and the GMS boys opened a several length lead to win in fine style.
The Year 10s, while not quite as confident, starting in lane 4 as the second fastest crew, still had high ambitions.
Through to 500m there was not much between the teams, but with 600m gone GMS put down a strong push to open a ¾ length lead on the field and then with confidence of seeing the field behind them, settled into a powerful rhythm and maintained this lead through to the last 250m.
Strong finishes from both trailing medal contenders definitely challenged the GMS boys but their lead was too great to be overcome. So, two events two Golds.
Our very successful WJ16 Girl’s Quad was one of the last races of the day and from the beginning it was going to be tight. The Scottish crew, who were clearly faster in the time trial, lead the field pretty much from the off, but the next four boats were neck and neck with half a length across the four. Leads and margins were changing all the way through the second half of the race. On this occasion, they finished just outside the medals. I am sure we will see more from them in the weeks ahead.
This was a great day, with some super results.
Sunday saw two GMS boys, Ethan Hunt and Connor Quann, competing at the GB Small Boats Regatta, which is the penultimate stage of the GB selection process. Both boys competed well, making the top 30 athletes in the UK, but at this stage are unlikely to progress to final crew formation.