Ellie Simester and Olivia Ames (Upper Sixth)

Team BGS had an amazing day out at the Mizuno British Indoor Rowing Championships (BRIC) last Saturday. Seventeen girls completed various events in front of a large crowd at the Olympic Park Velodrome.

The atmosphere is incredible with loud music, cameras and huge screens tracking each rowers performance. Competing at BRIC is very nerve-wracking, so we were really pleased to come away with loads of personal bests. However, a special mention has to go to Olivia Smith (Year 9) who placed 7th in the four-minute event, and to Anna Beckmann (Year 10) who placed 12th in the five-minute event. Autumn Handscombe (Year 11) did incredibly well, placing 20^th, having only just started rowing three months ago.  

BGS also shone in the team relays. In this event, four girls have to row as far as possible in eight minutes, with quick changeovers being a key decider, in which groups get closest to the podium positions. Both BGS teams finished in the top ten schools nationally, which is a great achievement.

This is our last indoor championships at BGS and we couldn’t be prouder of our team. Due to illness, there were several girls missing and not everyone there was feeling 100%. However, this really proved what BGS is made of when everyone went out to try their hardest. It was a long and hard day, but it was the perfect opportunity to show off the hard work everyone has been putting in since September. We are so proud to be part of this incredible squad and look forward to our next race in January, when the whole team can be out in force on our home river!