The long weekend of Friday 26th – Sunday 28th May, saw the Norwich School Boat Club race on the Olympic Rowing Lake at Eton Dorney, in a variety of different boat classes and age groups.
The L5 boys took on the country's finest rowing Schools in the octopules on the Friday in some very challenging conditions. Under some superb guidance from Mr Laws the boys managed a top half placing, finishing just behind Westminster School and Shiplake College. The J14 girls of Kitty Taylor (L5C), Madelyn Peachment (L5E), Scarlett Udy (L5N), Kitty Womack (L5V) and Beth Hood (L5B), qualified a quad scull for the first time in the Schools history into the B final - 10th out of 44 boats, which for a very small group of girls was an outstanding achievement.
On Saturday 27th the boat club raced the senior 1st 8+, and two M5 8's. The M5 (J15) boys raced in 1st 8's and 2nd 8's, with both boats dominating their time trials and semi-finals, giving them the favoured lanes for the finals. In a historic day for the club the 1st boat won the 1st 8+ cup leading from the start, leaving Bedford School, Cheltenham College and Westminster School to battle it out for the minor medals. This was Norwich School’s first-ever gold medal for an eight.
The J15 2nd 8 were not going to have it as easy, with a battle for the medals all the way along the 2000m course. Hampton School secured the gold with NSBC and Latymer vying for silver and bronze. With 100m to go Latymer put in a final surge to the line leaving us with a very creditable bronze medal. It was a really gutsy performance by both boats and will give lots of top rowing schools something to think about when meeting Norwich School on the start line in the future. This was the school’s first-ever 2nd VIII and consequently our first 2nd VIII medal.
The senior boys raced in the combined Championship 8+/1st 8+ event. The time trial put us in the middle of the pack for first 8+ schools. The target was to come in the top 20 Schools knowing that the first 12 spots were taken up with the top rowing Schools in the Country. The final showed incredibly close racing between Latymer, London Oratory, Bedford Modern and Norwich School, with the 1st 8+ producing a fine change of pace towards the finish line overturning all of them, encouraging signs for Henley Royal Regatta in three weeks time.
Sunday 28th the U5/L6 girls raced in championship girls coxless quads. The girls did an amazing job of qualifying for the D final considering they were in the premier event for girls, racing crews two years their senior and probably having 4 or 5 years of experience compared to our girls’ 1 year. A great experience which should stand them in good stead for next year.
The J16 boys raced in the coxed four event. Going into the race they were one of the favoured crews, having secured silver at the Inter-Regional Rowing Championships last month. The time trial saw them place second to Kingston Rowing Club, by 4 seconds, not quite the dominance they were looking for, and as the day progressed times between Kingston and Norwich School were close. Heading for the final the J16 boys knew they were going to be in for some seriously tight racing, having a quick start they had to be prepared that the Kingston crew were going to race back at them and close their lead - some big questions were going to be asked. With 1000m into the race our boys were in the lead by half a boat length, and Kingston closing, with 500m to go we were leading by a canvas and by 250m it was down to a cats whisker. In the last 100m and a heroic gear change called from Rory Cruickshank the boys threw the kitchen sink, fridge freezer and cooker at the finish line to win by a third of a length in a nail biting finish. An epic battle and an awesome end to a very successful weekend for the boat club. Well done to everyone involved.
Gold and the Junior Colts Cup - J15 1st 8+ - Jonny Elliott (M5S), Matthew Tremelling (M5C), Byron Collins (M5V), Huck Hempsall (M5C), Krizstian Erdodi (M5S), Duncan Steel (M5V), Gregory Ferguson (M5V), James Ni'man (M5C), Angus Toms (M5N)
Bronze - J15 2nd 8+ - Ethan Bacic (M5B), Alex Parriss-Hind (M5B), Michael Baker (M5N), Oliver Epurescu (M5S), Matthew Sexton (M5R), Charlie O'Shea (M5V), Josh Grey (M5V), Edward Collinson (M5V), Seb Clarke (M5N)
Gold and the Arundal Cup - J16 4+ - Oli Udy (U5N), Harry Hook (U5R), James Anderson- Brown (U5P), Gabriel Davis (U5E), Rory Cruickshank (U6P)