Founded in 1877, the King's School Rowing Club has an enviable reputation as one of the country's top school clubs. Its situation on the River Dee is superb and its excellent facilities are enhanced by experienced and professional coaching.

Rowing provides an additional and unique dimension to school life for rowers at all levels. Many of them can look forward to participating at top national events.

For more details have a look at the rowing club information booklet - most recent (Nov 2006) version in pdf format, or older version (2004) as a web page . To make contact with Mr Parry, Master in charge of Rowing, you can use the following telephone numbers:
Rowing office phone number 01244 689544
Boathouse (3-5 pm) 01244 347354

Forthcoming events

Download a provisional programme of events in pdf format - last updated 30 October 2007.

Information about the trip to Boston to take part in the Head of the Charles.

Recent rowing events and news

For a comprehensive list of rowing events see David Biddulph's rowing calendars - 2007 and 2008 (provisional)

If anyone has difficulty reading the results files in pdf format please ensure that you have Acrobat Reader v6 or later installed. It can be downloaded free from the Adobe website - click this link to jump to Adobe's download page.

J13 rowing

There will be training sessions at the rowing club between 09:00 and 11:30 for those Shells who have opted to row next year on the following dates:

Marlow Regatta - Saturday 21 June 2008

The 1st VIII competed over the 2000 metre course at Dorney lake, Eton, as part of their preparation for Henley Royal Regatta.

They competed in both Senior 2 Eights, in which they came 6th in the first heat, and the Senior 3 Eights. In Senior 3 Eights they won their heat and semi-final. In the final they came a close 2nd behind Exeter College Oxford.

This was an encouraging result after the disappointment of the cancellation of the National School Regatta.

Bedford Star Regatta – Saturday 14 June 2008

Rowers from the J14 A and B  Octuples and the J15 A VIII travelled to Bedford to take part in this event.

The J15 IV won their event with medals awarded to Graham Bendall, James Edholm, Matthew Chadwick, Chris Garrard and Tim Pemberton.

The J15 Quad also won their event with medals awarded to Adam Jones, George Herd, Tom Menzies, Kaleem Choudhry and Tim Pemberton.

The J14 Octuple lost in the  final, but the J14 A Quad won their event with tankards awarded to John Marsden, Charlie Collicutt, Sion Parry, Sion Parry and Harry Brightmore.

National School Regatta - Friday, Saturday and Sunday 23, 24 and 25 May

On Friday the school entered an A and B octuple. In the A Octuple event there were 23 crews entered. The school's crew came 3rd in the qualifying heat and 2nd in their semi final. In the final they came 5th, but with only 4 seconds between the first 5 crews. In the B Octuple event there were 19 crews entered. The school's crew came 5th in their qualifying heat and 3rd in their semi final. In the final they came 6th overall.

For Saturday and Sunday the school had entered crews for Championship VIIIs, J16 Championship VIIIs, J15 Championship VIIIs, J16 2nd VIIIs, Girls Championship Quads and Girls J15 Quads. Because of high winds racing had to be abandoned before lunch on Saturday and was cancelled for Sunday as well. This was an enormous disapointment for all of the crews and coaches. The is is a major event of the year and the rowers have beeen training since September.

Chester Regatta - Saturday 17 May

16 Crews entered this event on the River Dee.

• The J16 B Crew and  a J15 crew were both beaten in the Novice Eights competition by Chester University.
• The J15A Coxed Quad beat Merchant Taylors School to win their event.
• The J15 B Coxed Quad lost to Queens Park High School
• The J15 Novice Four crew lost to Chester University.
• Ed Longinotti and Rob Leech, rowing in Novice Sculls both won their first round, but were defeated in the semi finals.
• Four J14 Quads competed in a league competion, but were beaten by crews from Royal Chester Rowing Club and Liverpool Victoria Rowing Club.
• Tom Marquis and Zac Hulme lost in the first round of the J16 double sculls.
• Tom Bradley and Josh Manicaro won the Novice Double Sculls and received a tankard each.
• The J14 Girls Quad beat Queens Park High School to win their event.  Engraved Glass Tumblers are awarded to Laura Haylock, Dona Kumar, Elizabeth Williams, Corinne Robinson and Hannah Riley.

Shrewsbury Regatta - Saturday 10 May

view an album of photos

63 Rowers represented the club in 16 different events.

• In Novice VIIIs the J16 B crew beat the University of Chester and Royal Grammar School, Worcester, before-losing in the semi final to the J15 A crew. The J15 crew, having also beaten Royal Grammar School Worcester, lost to Exeter University in the final by 3 feet.
• In the J16 VIIIs the J16 B crew lost to Shrewsbury School by 3 lengths.
• In the J15 VIIIs the J15 A crew lost to Shrewsbury by a canvas.
• In the Novice Coxed IVs the crew lost to Nottingham Rowing Club in the first round.
• In the Girls J18 Coxless IVs the senior girls lost in the first round to Grange School.
• In Novice Double Sculls Tom Bradley and Josh Manicaro beat Warwick Boat Club and Pengwern Boat Club, before losing in the final to North Staffordshire Rowing Club.
• In J16 Double Sculls Tom Marquis and Zac Hulme lost to King's School Worcester in the first round.
• In Novice Single Sculls Rob Leech was beaten in the 1st round.
• The Girls J15 Coxed Quad lost to King's School Worcester.
• The Boys J14 A Quad was beaten by Shrewsbury School.
• The Girls J14 Quad lost both races in their league competition.
• In the Boys J14 B Quad competition 2 crews did not qualify for the final.
• The third J14 B Quad won their event and John Reeves, Can Ulger, Harry Davies, Will Miller and Harry Brightmore won a tankard each.

Wallingford Regatta - Sunday 4 May

Seniors: Following a couple of disappointing races in the morning, both the J16 and 1st VIIIs showed their ability to learn lessons, move on and not give up. Their races in the afternoon heats showed better rowing and more racing spirit with the 1st VIII coming 2nd in their heat for the J18 VIII competition and the J16s winning their heat in Novice VIIIs. The J16s continued this trend to come 2nd in their final, beaten only by Eaton's A crew who are currently the fastest J16 crew on the water. The 1st VIII were unable to hold their position coming 5th in the final but know what it is they need to do in the run up to Nat Schools. An important success of the final was beating St Paul's 1st VIII who beat them last week at Notts City. To put the result into perspective, it was a really tight race. Timings show that at the half way point there was only one second between our VIII and Abingdon and Radley. The boys know that they need to work on the 3rd (and toughest) 500m of the course and that is what they will be working on for the next few weeks. Important lessons have been learnt this week and the afternoon results show that our VIII is up there in the mix. The J16 B VIIIs rowed hard but were up against tough competition. The one girl in their crew performed very well.

Juniors: The J14 Octuples put on a fantastic performance coming 2nd and 6th in the qualifying processionals (only 6 boats were to qualify for the final out of 17). They went on to come 2nd and 5th in the final but should be pleased with their work. Again important racing lessons have been learnt by the A crew in particular and both crews know what they need to work on for Nat Schools.

The J15s had a hard fought heat where the times show just what a tight race it was. However as tiredness set in, in the final 1000m of the Final, technique went and with it the necessary rhythm to keep up the boat speed. The other J15 crews are much bigger than ours and we just need to learn to keep our head's in the face of tiredness but again its in racing like this that the crews can learn how to race.

Merseyside Regatta - Friday 2 May

view an album of photos

Nottingham City Regatta - Saturday 26 April

The school was represented by three VIIIs.

The 1st VIII rowing in the Senior 2 VIIIs came last in their heat. Rowing in the afternoon in the J19 competition they came 5th in the final.

In Novice VIIIs the J16 A crew finished last in their heat after suffering a broken rigger. In the same competition the J15 A crew reached the final and came a very creditable 5th.

The Senior Girls, rowing in Women's Novice Quads, came 2nd out of four crews.

Inter-Regional Reagatta, Nottingham - Saturday 19 April 2008

Three J16 crews were selected to represent the north west region for this event. Unfortunately the event had to be cancelled after one heat because strong winds had made the course unrowable.

GB selection trials, Eton - Sunday 20 April 2008

Mike Thorp, Sam Arnot, Stephen Jones and Franz Imfeld took part in the trials for selection for the GB Youth Squad.

King’s Welcomes Cambridge University Boat Race Squad

Current King’s School rowers with the Cambridge Boat Race 2008 Squad on the Dee.

The King’s School was proud to welcome the 2008 Cambridge University Boat Race Squad to train at the King’s School Rowing Club.

Chris Ramsey, Headmaster of the King’s School said “We are absolutely delighted to welcome, for a second year, the Cambridge University Boat Race Squad. It is an honour to share our first class rowing facilities with the team which includes one of our former pupils David Billings.  We wish the crews every success in the race.”

Dan O’Shaughnessy, President of the Cambridge University Boat Club said “The whole squad has enjoyed our stay. It is an ideal preparation for the Boat Race on the Tideway.  We love the atmosphere here at Chester and the Dee is a great river on which to train.  It has been good to have the opportunity to row alongside the King’s School crews, and we wish them well for the rest of the season.”

Dave Billings, a former King’s School pupil who is rowing at stroke in the Goldie crew said,” It’s great to be back and rowing again on the Dee. I have many good memories of the Boat House and all the staff at King’s.”

King’s has a long tradition of rowing excellence and has had several previous Boat Race Squad members particularly at Cambridge. “We have high hopes of similar future success for this year’s school leavers, as 3 members of our current 1st VIII crew have offers from Cambridge colleges.” Said Robert Parry, Master in charge of Rowing.

North of England Head - 8th March 2008

View an album of photos - report to follow.

Schools Head of the River Race, London - 4th March 2008

Five Eights represented the school in this event;

• The 1st VIII came 6th out of 32 crews in Championship Eights
• The J16 1st VIII came 4th out of 7 crews in Championship J16 Eights
• The J16 2nd VIII came 4th out of 6 crews in the J16 Second Eight competition.
• The J15 1st VIII came 5th out of 15 crews in Championship J15 Eights
• The J15 2nd VIII came 10th out of 15 crews in the J15 Second Eight competition.

These placings were all slightly below expectations, but an indication of the improvements required before the National Schools Regatta in May.

National Sculling Head, Henley - Monday 3rd March 2008

Three crews represented the school at this event;

• The Girls Senior Quad came 15th out of 19 crews, but they will all be eligible to row in this competition again next year.
• The J14 A Octuple came second out of 32 crews, winning the Silver Medal.
• The J14 B crew came 12th in the same competition which was an excellent performance.

Reading Head of the River - Saturday 23 February 2008

The 1st 8 dominated the Junior 8 category, beating 10 crews including main rivals St Pauls School by lOseconds. It was a good performance for the crew, in a new combination, finishing less than 30 seconds behind an Oxford university crew. The crew comprised of:- Alistair Barnwell, Frazer O'Brien, Gordon Beck, Leo Scott, Sam Arnot, Michael Thorpe, James Clark, Steve Jones and cox Franz Imfeld.

The j 16s also performed well, winning the novice 8 category, only 0.4 seconds ahead of an Imperial college crew and well ahead of other crews in their age category.

The j 15s also won their division, beating comfortably any crews of the same age, completing a very successful day for the school, the most successful club, apart from Oxford, of the day.

Pudding Races - Saturday 8 December

View a gallery of photos

GB Youth Trials at Boston, Lincolnshire - Saturday 17 November

Three members of the School competed on the 5000 metres course in single sculls. They were racing against the best young rowers in the country who will be eligible to represent Great Britain at International Youth events this season.

In the overall placings Sam Arnot came 9th, Michael Thorp came 13th and Stephen Jones came 44th. Franz Imfeld was also invited to the event as a trial cox.

Dee Autumn Head - Saturday 27 October

The School entered crews in 12 events in this competition rowed over 4 kilometres on the River Dee.

• The Jl 6 VIII rowing in Novice VIIIs finished one second behind Manchester University.
• In the Single Sculls events Stephen Jones won the Novice Event, Sam Arnot won the J18 Event, James Clark won the Senior 3 Event, and Mike Thorp won the Senior 4 Event.
• Gordon Beck and Alistair Barnwell won the J18 Double Sculls.
• James Clark's crew won J18 Coxed Fours.
• Bruce Fanshawe's crew won Senior 4 Coxed Fours.
• James Kinsey's crew won J16 Coxless Quads.
• Ed Jamieson's crew won J16 Coxed Quads.
• Matthew Chadwick's crew won Novice Fours.

New Captain of Boats

James Clark has been appointed as School Captain of Boats for 2007/8.

James has rowed in the 1st VIII for the last 2 years and was in the crew that reached the final of the Princess Elizabeth Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 2006.

In May this year he represented Great Britain in the Munich International Junior Regatta.

He is presently at trials in Nottingham with the Great Britain and is hoping for selection for the GB squad which will compete in the Junior World Championships in Bejing later this summer.

Henley Royal Regatta Qualifying Races – 30th June 2007

The School 2nd VIII were entered into the qualifying races for the Temple Cup at Henley Royal Regatta which starts this Wednesday.

55 crews were competing, with 19 to qualify.  The school crew came 30th and therefore missed qualification.  Most of the other crews were University crews, and so this was an excellent performance.  This year’s crew are one of the best 2nd VIIIs the school has produced and must be congratulated on their success this season.

The 1st VIII have travelled to Henley to prepare for their race on Wednesday against Westminster School in the Princess Elizabeth Cup.

Marlow Regatta – Saturday 23 June

The J15 A and B VIIIs travelled to Dorney Lake, Eton on Saturday to compete in the prestigious Marlow Regatta.  This was the last competitive event for these crews at the end of a very busy season.  The 1st and 2nd VIIIs had to withdraw because of exam commitments.

The J15 B VIII had a tremendous race finishing second behind the Eton B VIII.  They were well ahead of Dulwich School A, Monmouth School A,   and Eton C crew.

The J15 A VIII won their semi final ahead of Molesey Boat Club, Abingdon and St Edwards School.   In the final they led at 500 metres, but were eventually overtaken by Eton and Radley, with all 3 crews finishing within a boat’s length.  This was an excellent performance against crews who practice regularly on this course which will be used for the 2012 Olympic Rowing competition.

The 1st and 2nd VIIIs are now preparing for Henley Royal Regatta.  The 2nd VIII will be rowing in the qualifying event this Friday.  The 1st VIII will travel down next week

Bedford Star Regatta – Saturday 16 June 2007

44 Rowers from the J15 and J14 Squads went to Bedford on Saturday to compete in 12 events.

• The J15 A VIII beat St Paul’s School in the first round, Abingdon School in the semi final and Eton College in the final.
• The J15 B VIII found themselves racing Bedford School A crew in the first round and lost.
• The J15 A coxed IV won their semi final, but lost to Eton in the final.  The B coxed IV won 2 races, losing to Bedford School in the final.  The J15 A Coxed Quad lost to Bedford Modern School.  The J15 B Coxed Quad beat the J15 C Coxed Quad to win their event as they were the only 2 crews who entered..
• The J15 Girls Double was beaten by Bedford Star Girls.
• The J14 A Quad beat St Paul’s School, Bedford School and finally Bedford Modern School to win their event.   The B crew were beaten by Bedford Modern School.
• The J14 C Quad were beaten by Bedford Modern School in a good race.
• The Girls J14 Quad lost a hard race with the Bedford High School A Quad.

National School Regatta - Friday to Sunday, 25-27 May

This is the main event in the Rowing Calendar, with crews from all the Rowing Schools competing on the six lane, 2000 metre course at Holme Pierrepoint, near Nottingham. 66 Rowers and coxes represented the school competing in 16 different events over the 3 days. The photo below shows the 2nd VIII with their coach Paul Townshend soon after winning the Silver medal in the 2nd VIII competition.

Friday 25th May

• The J14B Quad, competing against 14 other crews, won their eliminator and their semi final.  In the final they won a Silver medal, just beaten by Windsor Boys.
• The J14 A Quad, competing against 36 other crews, won their eliminator and their semi final.  In the final they just missed a medal finishing in 4th place behind Peteborough BC, Molesey BC and Windsor Boys.
• The J14 Girls, competing against 28 other crews, came 3rd in their eliminator and 3rd in their semi final, just missing a place in the final.  They recorded the 8th fastest time overall.
• The J15 Girls double, competing against 25 other crews, had a disappointing row and finished last in their eliminator.

Saturday 26th May

• The J15 B VIII , competing against 14 other crews, came 4th in the processional eliminator, but failed to reach the final after finishing 4th in their semi final,  just 0.06 seconds ( 1 Metre) behind the third place qualifier.  This was an excellent performance considering a last minute substitution had to be made into the crew.
• The J15 A VIII, competing against 10 other crews, just failed to reach their final after finishing in 4th place in their semi final, again by less than 1 second.  They recorded the 6th fastest time overall.
• The Girls J15 Quad, competing against 30 other crews, finished 26th in the processional eliminator and did not qualify for the semi final.
• The J16 VIII competing against 7 other crews, just failed to reach the final by 0.3 second.
• The 2nd VIII came 4th in their processional eliminator, competing against 13 other crews.  They then went on to win their semi final.  In the final they achieved a silver medal, just beaten by Shrewsbury, but ahead of Hampton School.  An excellent result.
• The 1st VIII came last in their eliminator, but qualified for the semi final on the basis of their time.  In the semi final they came 4th behind  Shrewsbury, Eton and Tyne Rowing Club and therefore did not qualify for the final.

Sunday 27th May

• The J15 Quad came 9th in their processional qualifier out of 27 crews.  They went on to win their semi final.  In the final they finished in 5th place.
• The J16 Coxless IV finished 5th out of 18 crews in the processional qualifier. They then won their semi final.  In the final they won a Silver Medal, behind St Pauls but ahead of Abingdon.
• The Championship Coxless Pair, Alex Gillies and Will Fletcher, came 7th out of 23 crews in their processional eliminator.  They then finished 2nd in their semi final and 4th in the final, behind Shrewsbury, Winchester and Eton.  This was an excellent performance in very difficult conditions.
• The Championship Coxed IV came 15th out of 20 crews competing in the processional eliminator and did not qualify for the semi final.
• The school entered an A and B crew in Championship Coxless IVs.   Both crews qualified for the semi final and both finished 3rd in their respective races.  In the final, the B crew finished 5th and the A crew finished in 6th place.

Report from S Bosworth on Friday's events
The first day of racing at this year's national schools regatta featured three J14 quadruple sculls from the third year group and a J15 girls double. The double was edged out in the eliminator whilst the girls J14 quad produced an accomplished row in their eliminator to secure a semi-final spot, in which they finished 3rd, but did not progress to the final. The two boys' J14 quads both rowed commandingly to secure well-earned places in their respective finals. The 'A' quad produced a strong row in their final, but finished fourth, just outside the medals, however the 'B' quad, consisting of Will Everett, Matthew Chadwick, David McIlroy, Chris Garrard and cox Tim Pemberton came away with a Silver Medal, losing out only to Windsor Boys' School - a splendid achievement.

Chester Regatta - Saturday 19 May

11 crews took part in this event which was held on Saturday in very windy conditions.

• The J14 B Quad beat Queens Park High School and then won the final against the J14 C Quad.
• Two J14 Girls Double Sculls were beaten by Queens Park High School, but in the row off for second place Ilena Sen and Siobhan Barnard beat Abi Miller and Megan Hopkinson.
• The Girls J14 Quad was also beaten in the first round by Queens Park High School
• The Boys J15 Quad was beaten by Royal Chester Rowing Club
• The Boys J15 Double was beaten by Stoke Rowing Association
• The Girls J15 Double beat Liverpool Victoria Rowing Club to win their event.
• The Girls J15 Quad also beat Liverpool Victoria Rowing Club to win their event.
• The Senior 4 Double beat the University of Chester.
• In Senior 4 Single Sculls, Dan hales lost to Stoke Rowing Association after a dead heat in their first race.

Shrewsbury Regatta - Saturday 12th May 2007

The School entered crews in 20 events at this Regatta  on the River Severn, achieving  first place in 11 events.  The results were as follows;

• The Novice IV were competing against 14 other crews.  They won two rounds but lost in the semi final to Grosvenor Rowing Club.
• The School’s top IV rowing in Senior 2, won their semi final, but lost in the final to the top IV from Shrewsbury School.
• There were 2 entries in the Senior 3 IVs.  The B crew lost to Shrewsbury School in the semi final, but the A crew avenged this defeat by winning the final.
• The J16 IV rowing in Senior 4, beat Shrewsbury School in the semi final  and went on to defeat Worcester Royal Grammar School in the final.
• Alex Gillies and Will Fletcher finished ahead of Worcester RGS in the Senior 3 semi final, but unfortunately were disqualified for bad steering.
• Iain Braid and Will Cunningham defeated Warwick Boat Club with an excellent row to win the Senior 4 Double Sculls.
• David Richardson and Ollie Calderhead were defeated by Shrewsbury School in the Novice IVs.
• The J16 crew rowing in Novice VIIIs defeated 2 crews from Shrewsbury School and a crew from Somerville College Oxford, to win their competition in excellent style.
• The J15 A VIII beat Shrewsbury School to win their event
• The J15 B VIII also beat Shrewsbury School to win their event.
• The  J15 A Quad defeated Royal Chester Rowing Club to win their event.
• The J15 B Quad were defeated by Royal Chester Rowing Club in the final.
• The Girls J15 Double defeated a crew from Bewdley Rowing Club to win their event.
• Charlotte Gillies and Katy Levitt  defeated a crew from Stoke Rowing Association to win their event.
• The J14 Octuple had a row-over after Shrewsbury School had a crash with another boat.
• The J14 A  Coxed Quad defeated Grange School and Shrewsbury School to win their event.
• The J14 B Coxed Quad rowed in a league competition and won the final.
• The J14 C Coxed Quad lost their first 2 races in the league and had to retire because of injury.
• The Girls J14 Coxed Quad won their first 3 races in excellent style, but lost in the final.

In total the School received 65 Winners Tankards.  Names of winning individuals can be seen on the crew lists available for download via this link.

King's alumni at BUSA Regatta - Saturday to Monday 5-7 May

A number of King’s alumni were rowing for their Universities at the British Universities Sports Association Regatta and won a significant number of medals. Details in a pdf document.

Merseyside Regatta - Saturday 5 May 2007

Eight crews from the school  competed in this event at Liverpool Victoria Rowing Club.

• The J15 quad came 4th out of 6 crews, behind RCRC, Queens Park and Grange School
• The J14 B and C Quads both lost their first round races.
• The J15 girls quad beat Bradford GS, but lost to Grange School in the final.
• The J14 girls quad came 3rd out of 10 crews, behind Queens Park and RCRC.
• The J15 double rowing in the J16 competition were beaten by Grange School
• The Novice Girls Double, rowing in their first competitive race, capsized on the start.
• The J18 Double ( Iain Braid and Will Cunningham) won their event beating Bradford GS.

Wallingford Regatta - Sunday 6 May 2007

Three crews from the school competed in this event at Dorney Lake, Eton.

• The 1st VIII came second in their heat behind Shrewsbury, but only managed 4th place in the final behind Shrewsbury, Hampton and Kingston GS
• The 2nd VIII came second in their heat behind  Eton   but also finished 2nd in the final in an excellent row, again only beaten  by Eton.
• The J15 A VIII came 3rd in their heat behind Hampton and Latymer Upper, but finished 2nd in the final behind Hampton.

These were all good results for the schools top crews and good experience for National Schools at the end of the month.

Munich International Regatta - Saturday and Sunday 5 and 6 May

James Clark represented Great Britain at this event.  He should be congratulated on achieving 5th place in the final of the Eights competition.

Nottingham City Regatta – Saturday and Sunday 28 and 29 April

On Saturday the four top VIIIs from the school competed in this event, rowing over 2000 metres on the six lane course at Holme Pierrepoint in Nottingham.  A strong wind made rowing conditions very difficult.

• The 1st VIII rowed in 2 competitions.  In School Eights they came second in their heat to Abingdon School.  They produced an excellent row in the final against Eton, St Pauls, Abingdon, Radley and Westminster  Schools.  Their probable finishing position was second, but the race was nullified following a collision between the Eton crew and a launch.
• In the heats of the Senior 2 VIIIs, they finished just behind Abingdon and St Paul’s.
• The second VIII rowing in Senior 3 VIIIs won their heat in excellent style, but lost in the final  to Tyne Rowing Club, Tees Rowing Club and Eton, with no more than a length between the four crews at the finish.
• The J16 VIII came third in their heat behind Abingdon School and Nottingham Trent.
• The J15 VIII were rowing in Novice VIIIs against 15 other crews including club crews, Universities and school J16 crews.  They qualified for the semi final, finishing fourth out of six crews.

No wins, but excellent performances and good experience gained for all the crews.

On Sunday five crews from the school competed in this event rowed over 1000 metres at Holme Pierrepoint.

• The J15 B crew reached the final of Novice VIIIs but finished 6th.
• The J14 A crew won their event against 2 crews from Yarm School and our own B crew who finished 4th
• The Girls J15 Coxed Quad won their event against 5 other crews.
• The Girls J14 Coxed Quad came 3rd out of 6 crews.

Inter-regional regatta, Holme Pierrepoint, Nottingham - Saturday 21 April

Five crews from the school represented the north west region. The country is divided into twelve regions. Crews therefore had to row in qualifying heats before reaching the final on the six-lane course.

Results were:

• The J16 VII won a silver medal, just beaten by Abingdon school.
• The J16 coxed IV won a gold medal.
• The J16 coxless IV won a gold medal.
• The J15 coxed quad won a gold medal.
• The J14 coxed quad won a bronze medal.

University Boat Race - Saturday 7 April

The Rowing Club was well represented in this event. After a week of training at Chester the Cambrdge crew produced a win by one and a quarter lengths for their president Tom James.

The Goldie boat also won, by four lengths, with David Billings, Captain of Boats two years ago, as stroke.

The commercial break on TV before the race also featured rowers and boats from King's demonstrating the value of eating a good crunchy cereal before starting to row.

Northwich Spring Head - Saturday 7 April

While all the above was happening in London seven crews from the school were competing on the River Weaver.

• The J16 VIII won Novice Eights by a considerable margin in an excellent row.
• The J16 IV won Novice Fours.
• The J15 Coxed Quad were just beaten by Royal Chester.
• The J14 Coxed Quad won their event.
• The Girsl' J15 Quad won their event with an excellent row, having two J14s in the crew - Abi Miller and Siobhan Barnard.
• Two Senior Coxless Pairs also competed and rowed over.
• The J15 VIII had a bad collision while overtaking Chester University and stayed afloat but failed to finish.

23 medals were awarded.

(Victorious!) Cambridge Blue Boat

The school was surprised and privileged when the entire Cambridge University Boat Race crew agreed to attend the Wednesday Morning School Assembly on the 28th March, only 10 days before the Race.

The crew have been training for a week on the River Dee, using the school boathouse facilities, before travelling to London for final preparations.  This year, Tom James, a former pupil and Captain of Boats, is President of the Cambridge club and will be rowing in his fourth Boat Race.

Tom introduced each member of the crew to the school.  The three North American oarsmen were Kristopher McDaniel, Dan O’Shaunessy and Jake Cornelius.  From Germany he introduced Sebastian Shulte and Thorsten Englemann, followed by the 3 British representatives, Olympic Gold medallist Kieran West, Peter Campion and the cox Rebecca Dabigin.  Also present was their chief coach Duncan Holland from New Zealand.  David Billings, who was captain of boats 2 years ago was included as he is rowing for the Goldie, the Cambridge second eight.

Tom went on to speak about preparations and training and how it felt to row in the race.  Members of the crew then spoke about how the Boat Race was seen in their respective countries, namely Canada, USA, Germany and New Zealand.

This turned out to be a unique opportunity for the school to see and hear a group of international standard athletes talking about their sport.  It was also inspiring to see that the group included former pupils from King’s and that they were using facilities that the school can provide.

For many it was an assembly to remember.

North of England Head - Saturday 24 March

12 crews competed in this event on the River Dee in glorious sunshine. The results are summarised as follows;

• The 1st VIII came second in Senior 2 Eights beaten by Agecroft Rowing Club.
• The 2nd VIII came 4th out of 10 crews in Senior 3 Eights.
• The J16 VIII won the Novice Eights event beating 10 other crews.
• The J14 Coxed IV won their event beating 7 other crews.
• The J15 B VIII beat the J15 A VIII, with no other schools competing.
• The J14 Octuple was beaten by Grange School.
• The J15 Girls Quad came 3rd as did the J14 Girls Quad.
• The J14 A Quad beat the C and D Quads with no other schools competing.

GB Youth Selection Trials - Nottingham

Alex Gillies and James Clark were invited for 3 days of trials with the top 28 GB Youth Rowers.James Clark came 4th on bowside in the overall ratings and was selected to represent Great Britain at the Munich International Regatta in Munich. Alex Gillies was not selected but will be invited back for further trials next term.

Northwest Junior Inter Regional Head - Saturday 17 March

This event was held at Northwich at the end of a busy week for the rowers. The Results were as follows:

• J16 VIII rowed over as there were no other entries
• J16 Coxed IV won their event
• Jl6 Coxless IV rowed over
• J15 Coxed Quad won their event
• J14 A Coxed Quad won their event
• J14 B Coxed Quad came 5th

Schools Head of the River Race - Thursday 15 March

This event was held on the Tideway in London, rowing over the length of the Boat Race Course from Mortlake to Putney. The results were as follows:

• The 1st VIII had a disappointing race and finished 11th out of 36 crews.
• The 2nd VIII had an excellent race and finished 4th out of 18 crews.
• The J16 VIII also had an excellent race finishing 2nd out of 18 crews, only 2
  seconds behind the winners.
• The J15 A VIII put in an excellent performance to finish 4th out of 28 crews.
• The J15 B VIII, rowing over a shorter course, also did very well to finish 4th
  out of 18 crews.

Overall, these results represent an improvement over last year's placings and the event provided experience and encouragement for all the crews.

National Sculling Head of the River Race - Wednesday 14 March

This event was held on the 2000Metre Rowing Lake at Eton in glorious sunshine. The event had to be moved from Henley because of flooding on the Thames. The results were:

• J18 Coxless Quad came 33rd out of 37 crews
• J15 Coxed Quad came 31st out of 37 crews
• Girls J15 Coxed Quad came 21st out of 42 crews
• Girls J14 Coxed Quad came 18th out of 27 crews
• Boys J14 A Coxed Quad came 7th out of 37 crews
• Boys J14 B Coxed Quad came 17th out of 37 crews in the same event

These results were up to expectations and the event was provided a valuable experience for all the crews involved.

Runcorn Spring Eights - Saturday 10 March

Results in pdf format

The J15 crew represented the school in this event and won the novice eights competition. This was an excellent result as they finished ahead of crews from Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield Universities. The crew was Will Moreland, Ollie Holt, Alex Gorman, Jonathan Sears, James Kinsey, Mohammed Sajid, Sam Lewis, Inigo Atkin and Ed Hind.

Breakfast at the boathouse

The King’s School Boathouse made an early start on Tuesday 6th March when a TV production crew arrived to film an advertisement for a well known brand of breakfast cereal.  This involved using two of the schools eights to film a fictitious start to a University  Boat Race.  The two crews included oarsmen from Manchester clubs as well as King’s rowers.  John Blackwell and Duncan Little were on hand to give expert advice.

The Boat Race, of course, never started because all the rowers decided instead to pick a bowl of ???????????????????????????????????   

The School does not endorse any particular brand of breakfast cereal!

Henley Junior Head - Saturday 24 February

This event was cancelled due to flooding, which was disappointing for J15 and J14 crews. Instead a 4 Kilometre Head race on the Dee was organised with 6 King's Crews rowing against 5 other crews from Royal Chester Boat Club and Queen's Park School. The results are still being analysed, but this was excellent practice for the Schools Head Races in 2 weeks time.

Head of the Tent - Nottingham 18 February

Results in pdf format: King's results and all results

Three VIIIs represented the school at this event which is mainly for University and Club crews. The event was won by Goldie, the Cambridge University 2nd VIII, which this year is stroked by David Billings who was King's School Captain of Boats 2 years ago.

• The 1st VIII rowing in the Senior 2 competition came 4th out of 11 crews. They were beaten by Agecroft, York City and Nottingham University.
• The 2nd VIII rowing in the Senior 3 competition came 3rd out of 23 crews. They were only beaten by Edinburgh University and Liverpool University.
  These were excellent results for both crews rowing against older and more experienced opposition.
• The J16 VIII rowing as School Juniors were beaten by Hampton School 2nd VIII. Unfortunately no other J16 crews entered the event.

Photos: 1st VIII, 2nd VIII, J16 VIII (top to bottom)

GB Youth Pairs Trials at Boston - Saturday 17 Feb

Alex Gillies and James Clark finished 4th out of 29 crews in the time trials. This was an excellent result which puts them in the top 10 GB Youth Rowers.

Wycliffe Big Head - Saturday 3 February

Results in pdf format: King's results and all results

73 Rowers and coxes travelled to Gloucestershire to compete in the Wycliffe Head of the river over 4 Kilometres.  Despite the start being delayed by fog, a full programme of races was completed.

• In the morning division, the School A VIII were beaten by Shrewsbury but finished ahead of Radley and Canford.
• The School B VIII won their event beating 7 other crews including Shrewsbury, Canford,  Pangbourne College and RGS Worcester.
• The J15 A crew won their competition beating Shrewsbury and King’s Worcester.
• The J15 B crew, rowing in Novice VIIIs against much older crews rowed well but came last.
• The Boys J14 Quad and the Girls J14 Quad both finished 2nd in their respective competitions, in both events beaten by William Borlase School.
• In the afternoon division, the school Senior VIII came 4th out of 11 crews, this time beaten by Radley, Pangbourne and Bath University.
• The Senior Elite Quad had no competition, but posted an impressive time!
• The much improved J16 Lightweight VIII unfortunately damaged an oar half way down the course, which was a big disappointment to them as they were in a competition with 7 other schools.
• The J15 Boys A Quad won their competition with the B crew coming 3rd out of 7 crews.  The A Quad set a new record for the course.   The Girls J15 Quad with a substitute from Queens in the crew came 5th out of 8 crews.
• And finally, a very inexperienced J14 Octuple, rowed past their only opposition, Avon County Rowing Club, to win their event.  Considering they had never before rowed for 4 Kilometres this was a superb effort.
  

Medals are awarded to:

Senior 4 VIII    Michael Brockbank, Alex Gillies, Max Mackay, Alistair Barnwell, Will Fletcher, Alex Berry, Jordan Murray, Peter Walker and Charles Barry.

J 15 VIIIs   Fred Deas, Inigo Atkin, Muhammad Sajid, James Kinsey, Jonathon Sears, Sam Lewis, Alex Gorman, Ollie Holt and Will Moreland.

J 15 Quad   Sam Lewis, James Kinsey, Alex Gorman, Ollie Holt and Will Moreland.

J15 Octuple  Chris Garrard, Ben Cuffin- Munday,  Matthew Chadwick, Will Butcher, David McIlroy, Ed Calderhead, Will Everett, Tom Menzies and Tim Pemberton.

King's oarsman representing GB in the Australian Youth Olympics

Nick Fearnhead (Captain of Boats 2005-6) is currently in Sydney having been selected for the Squad to represent GB in the Australian Youth Olympics from Jan 17th to Jan 21st 2007.

The games were inaugurated in 2001 and are a biannual event designed to take advantage of the facilities which were built for the 2000 Olympics. 

2007 marks the first time that Great Britain has been invited to compete in the Festival and the British Olympic Association has taken 112 athletes from 11 disciplines of whom 20 are rowers (only the hockey players, at 36, are more numerous).

This fourth Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) promises to be the biggest and most spectacular yet. Over 1600 athletes aged 13 – 19 years from 23 nations including China and the USA will be challenging for medals in their respective sports.  China alone has sent 300 athletes and it will be an opportunity for our crews to assess their rapidly rising strength in advance of the Beijing Olympics.

Nick is listed to row in three events:- at Bow in the VIII and as Stroke in the Double and Quad sculls.  His first race is the Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls scheduled for 9.48 on Saturday 20th Jan. We all wish him the best of luck.

More details (and results when posted) will be found at:-
http://www.olympics.com.au/ayof07/schedule.cfm?DisciplineID=43&Day=4

Race Night  - 18 November 2006

The Rowing Club held its annual Race Night Supper on Saturday Nov 18th with some 150 people in attendance. The format was slightly changed from previous years, both in terms of the number of races held and the provision of food, which this year was an excellent Hot Pot. Both changes led to a rather more relaxed evening for committee members, with opportunities to circulate which have not always been possible in the past.

Much interest was shown in the film footage shown on the screen during the interval and it is our intention to produce a DVD of it – it would be helpful if anyone who would like to purchase a copy could register his or her interest with an email to KSRCPA@btinternet.com

The total for the event has yet to be finalised but is of the order of £ 3000 which is a very useful boost to funds in the face of ongoing equipment requirements.  In addition, a number of parents kindly volunteered to individually sponsor blades.

The two winning “boats” on the night were those sponsored by Premier NDT and by Spraytone Ltd. These will now be replaced by two real boats with evenly matched crews which will race at the Pudding Races on the Dee on Saturday 9th December. Come and watch!

Once again, we would like to thank all the sponsors named below:-

Air Products PLC, CRC Stone Merchants, The Curzon Hotel, Dorney Cottages, The Framing Workshop, Holt Mini-Plant, Houghtons Opticians, Mace & Jones Solicitors, Premier NDT Ltd, Rex Boat Club, Spraytone Ltd, Willaston Physiotherapy

Their details can be accessed in a pdf file by using this link. 

British Indoor Rowing Championships - 12 November 2006

Results in pdf format: results for current King's pupils and results for former pupils

Boston Junior Time Trials - 11 November 2006

Results in pdf format: all results

Northwich Autumn Head - 4 November 2006

Results in pdf format: King's results and all results

Dee Autumn Head - 21 October 2006

Results in pdf format: King's results and all results

Agecroft Small Boats Head - 15 October 2006

Results in pdf format: King's results and all results

Chester Long Distance Sculls - 30 September 2006

Results in pdf format: King's results and all results

Highlights from the summer holiday

• Nick Fearnhead and Will Orchard rowed in the Great Britain Youth VIII at the World Youth Rowing Championships in Amsterdam.  They came 4th in the final beaten by New Zealand, Italy and Germany.
• Peter Walker rowed for the British Team in the European Youth Rowing Championships in Groningen, winning a Silver and Bronze medal in the Pairs.
• Ming Chi Chung coxed the England VIII to a Gold medal in the Home Countries Championship at Strathclyde.
• Alex Berry rowed in the Welsh VIII at the same event, finishing in 4th place.
• 1st VIII who reached the final at Henley in July achieved the following exam grades:
• between the two students who took GCSEs - 8A*s & 4As
• between the three students who ASs - 11As & 1B
• between the four students who A2s - 16As
• Eleanor Sowden and Ilena Sen, together with several J14 boys, fell out of their boats, had a swim and got back into their boats

If for any reason you can't find what you are looking for, have a look in our alphabetical list, or contact us on the following e-mail: info@kingschester.co.uk