Rowers thrive in Nottingham

King’s Rowing was proud to put forward 18 athletes to the North West J16 team for the annual Inter Regional Regatta at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham.

A total of 12 regions from across the country competed against each other over 1500m. King’s featured in the Boy’s J16 coxed four, in a composite eight with The Grange School and members of our J15 Girl’s squad raced in the WJ16 Eights event.

In the heats, both the Boy’s Four and the Girl’s Eight qualified into the ‘A’ Finals posting the sixth and fourth fastest times respectively. The Boy’s composite Eight raced well but unfortunately their opponents were in more settled line-ups and this eventually told leaving the Eight to race the ‘B’ Final later in the day. The crew picked themselves up, raced hard and to win the ‘B’ Final meaning they finished in a credit-worthy seventh place after only a very short time together.

The Boy’s Four competed fantastically for the large majority of the ‘A’ Final, ultimately finishing in sixth place, which should provide motivation for their upcoming summer races.

Finally, the J16 Girl’s Eights, faced the winners and the runners-up at the Schools Head of the River. In the ‘A’ Final, the girls raced with great maturity and determination eventually finishing in a commendable fourth place. This was a hugely impressive achievement given that it was their first ever multi-lane race in sweep rowing against older and much more experienced opposition.

In the Victor Ludorum competition, the points that the King’s crews earned were added to those won by other North West schools meaning that the region finished the competition in fourth place out of the 12 that competed on the day.

All the crews will have learned an enormous amount from a great day. The summer racing season has well and truly begun!