An excellent (and very wet) day for the Boat Club in Bedford, a report by Mr Barrell, Head of Rowing.
"It was a wet autumnal day in Bedford on Sunday 13th October for the annual small boats head on the River Great Ouse. Every member got to race twice on the 1900m course and some were fortunate to race three times in their soggy kit but such was the good camaraderie and team spirit, the conditions didn’t hamper the performance.
48 Norwich School rowers competed across the M5 to U6 year groups, in a variety of boat classes. Most of the M5 rowers competed in single sculls which can be a daunting experience at Bedford with its many bridges and bends to race through, with George McKean, winning J15 single sculls closely followed by Daniel Wright, in a field of 12 boats.
The U5 double of Gotto/Arkle put in a fantastic display of grit and determination dominating the J16 2X event. Benji Tremelling and Jon Catmull again produced a first and second-place finish, with Benji passing a Dulwich sculler with such speed.
Rowan Parsons also put in a dominating performance in his single scull to win J17 singles in the last division.
Mattie Sexton raced three times in a row, narrowly missing out to a fast Sudbury sculler but posting the second-fastest sculling time of the day. The seniors raced to 2nd place in the J18 quads with the second-fastest time of the day, but winning J18 4+ with John Elliot, Huck Hempsall, George Prior and Seb Clarke, beating Bedford School and BMS.
The girls had a great day with wins for the U5 and M5 girls in coxed quad sculls winning from a field of 3 crews and 14 crews respectively.
The Club finished the day being the most successful with the following results :
8– Wins
J18 4+: S Clarke/G Prior/H Hempsall/J Elliott/M Sexton
J17 1X: R Parsons
J16 1X: B Tremelling
J16 2X: F Arkle/S Gotto
J16 4X-: S Cooper/J Catmull/M Doylend/F Arkle
W4X+: A Austin/C Loveland/E Foyster/M Humphrey/R McDowell
WJ15 4X+: M Humphrey/M Hewitt/B James/N Lee/L Dunlop
J15 2 1X: G McKean
5 – 2nd places
4 - 3rd places"
