GMSBC Regatta

A regatta for GMS’s KS3 rowers occurred at Longridge. On Saturday 11^th the Boys’ Regatta was held, with the Girls’ Regatta on Sunday. (Too many for just one day!). Many of the rowers had been training throughout the summer holidays in preparation for this event.

Each event started with two rounds of qualifiers, where the winners of round one raced the losers of other races in round two. From there the surviving rowers went into a knockout competition.

There was some great racing throughout, though a few steering issues played a significant part in the earlier races. In the Year 8 Boys the semi-final line-up was Kavin Ravikumar vs Albie Collins and Ernie Stevens vs Wilbur Morganti. Both were close races and all four should be proud of make it through to this stage. The final between Ernie and Kavin was a fine race with Kavin showing great determination and strength, however Ernie’s relaxed and fluid style, together with great athleticism, saw him across the line a couple of lengths clear.

The first race for the Year 9 boys was between Will Allen and Conor Quaan, which went to Conor. In fact, Conor looked pretty dominant throughout, until he reached the final, when, just to show the system works, he again raced Will. Will had a better start this time and was much more in contention: with 100m to go, it was anyone’s guess who would take the prize. However, it was Conor who came out the winner. Special mention should go to the other semi-finalists, Luke Reynolds and Haashim Ahmed.

Sunday was the girls’ turn and the racing seemed even tighter with some very close calls. In the first round there was a dead heat between Lucy Platt and Daisy Mitchell, which on the re-row ended in a half length win to Daisy. Not daunted by this set back, Lucy won her second round in style, avoiding the willow that had somewhat delayed her in the earlier race. By the time of the semi-finals, Lucy was racing Bea Spence; Jemima Connor was racing Eleanor Cummings.  Both were great races: it was just that Jemima caught a blade, 5 strokes from the finish line, that separated, her and Eleanor.

In the final Lucy, having raced at least one more than Eleanor, had gained from the experience, rather than being tired from the effort, she found energy and won the event.

For the Year 9 girls, there was similar close racing, and given the numbers there was also a slot in the semi-finals for a closest loser. In the quarter finals, Charlotte Tedder, looked like taking this slot, having lost to Chloe Wilson by only just over a length. The last race of this round was between Natalie Quinn and Elise Whyte. A fabulous race with both girls giving their all, it went to Natalie by ¾ length.

The fourth semi-finalist was Chloe Sheppard, and while both Chloes raced well in their respective races, the final was a rematch between Elise and Natalie. For this race, the girls switched stations and although there is no notional difference between the stations, it seemed a fair proposal.

Unlike the Year 9 boys, the outcome was much more in doubt, given the closeness of their earlier race. Elise made a good start and looked to have small lead by halfway. She consolidated on this over the rest of the course and won by just over a length.

It was a great weekend of racing and a good introduction to the new school year. Well done to everyone who participated and thank you to all the organisers, without whom the regatta could never have taken place.