Miss Gowing (Senior Rowing Coach)
‘24 hours is an extraordinarily long time’.
This was the revelation of one of the BGS rowers about 50 minutes into the start of the 24-hour ergo fundraiser! The aim of the event was to cover the distance between BGS and Belgium (the destination to our annual rowing camp), on two rowing machines (ergos) over the course of 24 hours, as we looked to raise funds for additional rowing equipment to improve our performance on the water.
The mammoth row began at 3:00pm with two senior girls on one machine and four eager parents from The Friends of the Bedford Girls’ School Rowing Club (FBGSRC) on the other. The two ergos sat ready in the centre of the hall, with the dauntingly long time programmed into their clocks. The girls took turns rowing 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off for an hour, before the next pair came to relieve them of their duties. As the school day ended on Friday, the sports hall rapidly began to fill with rowers from Years 9 to Upper Sixth as they decamped with makeshift beds ready for a long night ahead before pizzas were kindly delivered by the parents to keep the squad going.
The rowing continued throughout the night as others made use of the empty Sports Hall to provide entertainment. The few that did sleep woke to an ominously foggy Saturday morning, although many had stayed up to keep motivating the overnight teams. At midday, the encampment moved to the heart of the Christmas Fayre for the final three hours. Watches were synced, and next team of rowers were chaperoned onto the new ergos. At the stroke of midnight, as the handles went down on the ergos in the sports hall, the fans started whirring on the ergos in the Christmas Fayre.
The final hour of the challenge was rowed in relay format, characterised by quick changes and short stints on the machine. This was a great opportunity to show the wider BGS community what our rowers are capable of, with some impressive displays of power and teamwork. The final minute was rowed by Ellie Simester (Captain of Boats) on one machine, and by Olivia Ames (Vice-Captain) on the other.
Over the course of the event, 67 of the current BGS rowers, a handful of the FBGSRC and many bystanders from the Christmas Fayre had helped to take the club 374 miles, smashing the 300-mile target. Thank you to everyone who has donated so far and if you have been impressed by the exploits of our rowers, there is still time to donate via the link here.
