Success at the 2018 Home International Regatta

Whilst the school had started their summer break, three of our rowers were in the thick of international selection. Owen Parsonage, Oliver Irvine and Jack Roberts had all worked towards their goal of representing their countries during the season. With ergo tests and constant testing on the water, we had a fantastic outcome of results.

Owen Parsonage gained selection into the coxless fours event representing Wales and Jack Roberts gained selection into the coxed fours event representing England. The Home Countries Regatta is an extremely high standard match against England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This year’s regatta was held in Cork, Ireland where our boys were greeted with superb conditions and wonderful warm sunshine over the one day event.

Owen raced in the bow seat of the Welsh coxless four and in a close fight down the course came a respectful 4^th behind a photo finish with Ireland in third position. A fantastic experience for Owen and a great boost for next season.

Jack was selected to row in the English coxed fours and the Eights events at the Regatta. After not gaining his selection into the Great Britain team, Jack was then asked to row for England. This opportunity was taken by Jack with both hands and he worked hard along with his new crew members to make the four and eight as fast as possible.

At the regatta they were faced with a very strong and established Welsh four and again a strong Irish eight. The English four were in a battle until around half way down the 2000m course but then extended their lead from the whole field to a convincing Gold medal win by the finish line.

The eight was a mix of the coxed and coxless fours so was a bit of an unknown quantity and very tired after racing earlier on the same day. The boys were battling down the course until around the 1200m mark then, just like the four, extended their lead from the other nations to another fantastic Gold medal.

We also learnt the Jack Roberts was awarded the Captains role of the England team and was asked to receive the trophy for the overall winner of the event for Junior men.

This regatta was a fantastic boost for our boys and has given us a huge boost into next season, both Owen and Jack are in Upper Sixth form next year so return with a slice of international experience for our team to be proud of.