SWPSBC & WALLINGFORD RC TRAINING DAY

The J16-18 Girls’ Squads from SWPS and Wallingford RC had a fantastic combined training day at the Perkins Boathouse in Laleham in mid-September, as 50 athletes from our respective Senior Girls’ programmes joined forces to row well, make new friends, and have a great time on land and water!  It was so exciting to get some of the top junior women in the country moving together in these composite crews, and looking ahead to an incredibly exciting season.  After a hugely successful summer 2024 for both clubs, eyes are firmly on 2025 and making special things happen! 

GLOUCESTER AUTUMN HEAD

With unseasonably heavy rain in September causing unsafe river conditions, our rowers had to wait until October half-term for their first taste of racing for the season!  Our first ever trip over to Gloucester Head saw a small section of the Senior Squad testing themselves out over the 5km canal course in big and small boats. 

There were promising performances in singles and doubles, with a win for Annabelle T (Y13) in WJ18 Band 1 1x, and second places in WJ18 Band 2 1x (Maddie M – Y13) and WJ16 2x (Isla E – Y11).  A fun second division followed, racing in composite eights with our friends from Wallingford RC, where our matched boats took first and second in the senior W8+ category – Daniya A-Q (Y12) and Maddie M competing in the winning crew!

WJ18 Band 1 1x – 1st, 9th
W8+ – 1st, 2nd
WJ18 Band 2 1x – 2nd
WJ16 2x – 2nd

KINGSTON SMALL BOATS HEAD

A welcome retun to river training after half-term saw a busy time for the Club start with our J15-18 Squads racing over the nearby 5.2km course at Kingston. For most of our rowers it was their first competitive outing of the season and a good reminder of the excitement and fun of race day! 

Some promising results across a range of boat types set our athletes up well, with a point from which to measure the progress they make in the winter training block ahead. Highlights were Emily N’s win in the WJ18 1x, and some strong top-10 performances in WJ18 4x (Anna S, Jasmine I-S, Isla E, Amelie M), 4+ (Jasmine I-S, Millie P, Amelie M, Isla E, Ivy P), 2x (Maisey P, Bella W), 1x (Maddie M) and J15 4x+ (Bethany B, Ashley S, Annabel E, Rosie G, Ivy P) and 2x (Isla F, Imogen R).

WJ18 1x – 1st, 6th, 23rd 
WJ18 4x – 2nd, 8th 
WJ18 4+ – 4th 
WJ18 2x – 9th 
WJ15 4x+ – 10th, 11th, 19th, 22nd 
WJ15 2x – 10th, 13th, 14th

PERKINS-TORMEAD J14 TRAINING DAY

Our youngest Club members enjoyed their first taste of a training day in early November, with visitors from Tormead School joining us for an afternoon of mixed crews, new friends and battle-paddling on our home stretch. For some of these rowers, they could be seeing each other on race start lines around the country for years to come!

GB ROWING TEAM SENIOR & U23 TRIALS

A great November weekend helped build experience for our Captain of Boats, Annabelle T, as she attended her first adult GB Rowing Team Trial in Boston, Lincolnshire. As a one-year international junior and 2024 World U19 Finalist in the pair, it was a useful taste of the world of senior rowing before the end of her schooldays.  Saturday included a mass 2000m Ergo test in a local sports hall, where PBs tumbled around the room.  Sunday’s challenge was a 5000m race in single sculls on the famous trials course, where GB internationals of all ages have competed over the course of the last 20 years!

Annabelle finished the weekend with a PB on the ergo and an encouraging performance on the water: 55th overall, and ranked 10th of the 20 U21s in attendance. Still an U20 and making big strides already this season, she’s on an exciting trajectory for this year and beyond!

GB ROWING TEAM U19 TRIALS

A week later, there was the first chance for the top U19 athletes in the country to test themselves against each other at the GBRT Early ID trials in Boston, which saw encouraging performances from three of our top scullers. Emily N’s 2nd place in the field of 114 women registers as the highest ever Perkins ranking at a GB Trial, with strong performances from Maddie M and Daniya A-Q rounding out a great weekend!

A long road lies ahead for the rowers and scullers aiming for selection to a GB team in summer 2025, but these promising results mean that our rowers head back to school and into the next training block full of motivation to work hard and keep moving on!

U19 W1x – 2nd, 25th, 74th