On Saturday 6th May, Bedford Girls’ School entered 40 girls across five categories at the annual Bedford Regatta. BGS reached four finals, winning the WJ15 category – fantastic results across the board. 

The most exciting race of the day was the Year 9 Octo semi-final. They were competing in their first regatta, not only did they win their quarter final, they narrowly beat Kingston Grammar School by just one foot to make it through to the final. The girls lost in the final but were very calm and professional in their first regatta final. 

Our year 10 girls were strong again, the B crew were in good form, beating a crew two years their senior and winning their quarter final, before missing out by a narrow margin in the semis.

The A crew were impressive, they had a total of seven races. On their 7th race of the day, they took on a strong crew from BMS, beating them for the overall win by clear water. A very well deserved win in the WJ15 quad category.

Our Seniors were on top form, with our B crew putting in a mature quarter final performance and taking a comfortable win, but unfortunately had to withdraw due to injury. 

The senior A crew raced six times and competed in two finals - in the WJ18 category and the adult women's category, where they came up against BGS alumna, Gemma Crook (2014), who beat us by a very small margin. In the WJ18 final the girls came up against one of the top crews in the country from Putney High School and again put up a good fight but missed out on the win.

Overall, it was such a great day, with the crowds supporting the girls, it made a huge difference to them in the last 50 metres of their races. Also a big thank you to all BGS staff and The Friends of Bedford Girls' School Rowing Club who volunteered on the day providing refreshments throughout.

View our Bedford Regatta photos on Flickr here.