BASHER and Wallingford Regatta
On Saturday the Boat Club fielded 10 crews for the first regatta of the BASHER series. The 2nd VIII, 3rd VIII, Colts A, Colts B, Colts C, and Junior Colts A,B,C,D,E, all took part with five of these crews winning their categories.
The BASHER series comprises of Bedford School, Abingdon, St Pauls, Hampton, Eton, and Radley; all of whom are big names in the rowing world, so this event provides some great racing for the crews.
The conditions were less than ideal and very varied, with everything from beaming sunshine, to hail, and gusty winds.
Congratulations to Colts As, the 3rd VIII, Colts Bs, Junior Colts Ds, and Junior Colts Es, on winning their respective categories.
On Sunday the Boat Club again went into battle, this time at Wallingford Regatta, which is also hosted at Dorney. The VIII were in the Challenge VIIIs category, the top tier at Wallingford, and had a great day of racing. They won their heat in the fastest time of the day, and then came 2nd in the Final, being narrowly beaten by Thames Rowing Clubs A crew. They were victorious over the remainder of the field, which included St Pauls and Shrewsbury, who had led the race for the first 1500m.
Colts As also raced at Wallingford despite having raced BASHER the day before! They won their heat and later their final. A very impressive result considering it had been two hard days of racing.
Colts Bs also narrowly missed qualifying in the same heat as Colts As where they finished an impressive 3rd.
Later that afternoon the 2nd VIII raced in the School/Junior 8s category. With a solid heat they earned themselves a place in what can only be described as a humdinger of a final, where 5 crews finished within 1.5s of each other. Quite an epic race! Whilst declared 4th, the result was later deemed to be a dead heat for 3rd!
Overall it was a successful weekend for the Boat Club, and it was great to see so many crews in action.
Many thanks to the PSG for all the food and support they kindly provided.
