Miss Gowing (Senior Rowing Coach)
On Saturday afternoon, 72 girls took to the water across two divisions for the inaugural BGS Autumn Head. The event was rowed in a time-trial format, to give the girls an opportunity to showcase their hard work so far this season. Racing in singles, doubles, quads and octos, the girls showed real maturity in the execution of their races.
It was a chance for our newest rowers in Year 9 to experience what Head racing is like and to prepare themselves for Star Head of the River, which will be held over the same course on 17th November. This was the longest stretch most of the girls had rowed at this intensity and the girls performed admirably, stepping up to the challenge.
The Year 10 group raced across coxed quads, doubles and a brave single. All raced well, with only three seconds separating the two doubles and some of the quads beating older girls. Our Junior Girl of the Match goes to Chloe Howe, who won both her events, despite only getting in a boat for the first time in September. The Year 11s raced in doubles and quads. We had some good performances across the squad, but the standout result goes to the coxless quad of Emily Santerre, Emily Godber, Lydia Franklin and Amy Wallington who managed to set the fastest time of the day, despite not having many practice outings!
For the Sixth Formers, the first division was a chance to get out in singles. Many of the girls were very nervous about this, given that the single is the least stable boat to row. Unfortunately, a few of the girls were impeded by a slow crew from another club, but most of the girls were able to achieve fantastic results! In the second division, some of the seniors swapped into doubles. Our Senior Girl of the Match award is to be shared between Ellie Simester and Grace Batten, who put in a good performance to win their event and really showed that they had stepped on from training to bring their ‘A-game’ for the race.
Not all the action was happening on the water, with our senior coxes, Sophie Parry and Bella Trobe swapping the life jackets for high-vis vests and trying their turn at marshalling. The pair were a great help with boating crews, timing and keeping the event running smoothly. Our thanks must also go to the Friends of Bedford Girls’ School Boat Club group, who provided encouragement, snacks, hot drinks and support from the bank. They created a great atmosphere for the event, and it was great to see how many parents turned out to watch despite the damp day!
