Mr Wells (Director of Rowing)
It was a very wet and early start to the second race of the season and the first one away from Home. Kingston Head was run over 5200m in a processional time trial. This is one of the longer races, which we do with the girls rowing up to the start and then racing back. This term we are trying to ensure that all girls are racing in as close as we can matched boats. This means that each of the girls had to step to ensure that they were making their boat go faster.
So far this term we have been working on distance per stroke. This means that we have been concentrating on the effectiveness of each stroke and the length of stroke rather than the rate. Kingston Head provided a great testing venue due to the length of the course to ensure these points have been realised.
All the girls performed amazingly over the long course. Most of the senior girls raced twice over the course, which effectively means that they covered over 24km of which 10.4km of it was at race pace.
The best part for me was that even though this was a very early start, the rain didn’t stop all day and the racing was a long way there was such a positive vibe. The girls were very much one team and this was emphasised with the year 10 girls working as teams to de rig and load the seniors boats in such a supportive and fun way that we were one of the first teams to leave.
Again it has been hard to establish a senior (Years 11 – Upper Sixth) and junior (Years 9- 10) girl of the match. These are awarded to the girls who have been standout performers and at this event. After racing a full track in the Year 10 quads Karis Nisbett-Hadaway stepped up and raced (her first ever sweep race) with the senior girls putting in a very positive performance. For this Karis takes the junior Girl of the Match. Senior Girl of the Match goes to Jessamie Warwick for her true leadership with one of Year 10 girls crews, Jessamie calmed nerves and ensured that they were prepared and ready to race.
All girls showed that the training they are doing is paying off and they are all on a positive pathway. The next race is the Star Head on Sunday 19th November when the new Year 9 will be joining in the fun.
#BGS #MakeTheDifference
