EASTER TRAINING CAMP – BANYOLES, SPAIN
In the Easter holidays, our J15-18 squads put together a ten-day block of fantastic training in the most beautiful location, as they took to the venue of the 1992 Olympic Games in Banyoles. They had a wonderful time, full of great training, sunny days, and smiles with their friends – combined with the important study which prepared them well for their internal and public exam period which followed! This was a key period of training in advance of what would turn out to be an exceptionally successful summer regatta season.
JUNIOR INTER-REGIONAL REGATTA
A really enjoyable and encouraging day’s racing in Nottingham in late April for our WJ16 2x (Anna S, Sophia D), who represented the Thames Upriver region at the British Rowing Junior Inter-Regional Regatta. After a strong performance in the time trial, the Perkins crew stepped on impressively in a tremendously exciting A Final, to win a fantastic Silver Medal, against twelve other regional teams. Their result also helped to contribute to Thames Upriver retaining the overall Victor Ludorum trophy. A terrific start to summer regatta season.
JUNIOR SCULLING REGATTA
A busy May bank holiday weekend of racing for our whole club concluded with the Junior Sculling Regatta. The weather may have felt more like a winter head race, but we saw some nip and tuck multi-lane racing befitting of a major summer regatta. Well done to our WJ18 (Addy P & Maddie M) and WJ16 (Anna S & Sophia D) doubles, who raced impressively to Gold and Bronze medals, and to our other A finalists in the WJ15 quad and our second WJ18 double.
MUNICH INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR REGATTA
We were incredibly proud to have two of our leading athletes (Annabelle T & Emily N) selected for the GB Rowing Team for the May Bank Holiday regatta in Munich, which sees top rowers from Europe gathering for the first U19 international racing of the season. Annabelle and Emily were the first Perkins rowers ever to be selected in the U19 Women’s Sweep team for this event, and ours was the only club or school programme to be represented by more than one rower in this discipline. Racing together in a pair on day one, they comfortably won their heat, before racing to a superb Silver Medal behind France and ahead of another GB crew – a huge result for the girls and for Perkins!
Day 2 saw the girls race strongly to second place in their GB squad four, with Annabelle finishing third in another pair to round off a busy and successful weekend.
Congratulations to both of our rowers, and we look forward to seeing them continue pursuing their international goals at the upcoming GB Rowing Team trials in Nottingham.
THAMES DITTON REGATTA
The first river regatta of the season saw our J14 and 15 Squads enjoying a whole day of racing under the impressive vista of Hampton Court Palace. This was a great chance for some final race prep ahead of National Schools’ Regatta which would follow just one week later. We were delighted to see crews from both squads racing hard and making good progress, with highlight performances coming from our victorious WJ15 1st (Jasmine I-S, Hannah M, Isla E, Bella W, Ivy P) and 2nd (Bella S, Katie M, Carmella S, Imogen S, Kirsty P) Quads, with Perkins crews also making the final in WJ15 1st and 2nd Eights, WJ15 2nd Quads, and WJ14 1st and 2nd Octs.
NATIONAL SCHOOLS’ REGATTA
A stunning three days saw the first ever five medal haul for Perkins at the biggest school regatta in the world. Prior to that weekend, our Club had won three Championship (top-tier J18) medals our history. By Sunday evening, three more of our crews had added their names to this list.
62 Perkins rowers across all four of our J14-18 squads raced to A or B finals and a top-twelve ranking in the country, racing in the brave and aggressive way that makes us all so proud.
Our Senior Squad rose to the challenge, medalling across disciplines in style. The Championship 2x (Addy P & Annabelle T), 2- (Lottie H & Maddie M) and 4+ (Anna S, Jess W, Megan G, Charlize B, Darcie B) thrived in the A Final environment, attacking the medal opportunities in front of them all the way to the line for their three brilliant Bronze medals. The J16 2x (Emily N & Sophia D) battled throughout their final with tough conditions and a powerful opponent, winning a tremendous Silver – just 0.34secs behind the lead crew.
The J15 Squad’s three quads sculled impressively in their finals, with the 2nd 4x+ (Bella S, Katie M, Carmela S, Imogen H, Kirsty P) involved in an amazing tussle from start to finish in their final, racing to a stunning Silver medal. Our 1st 4x+ showed their class in their B Final, leading from lights-out to the flag, as did our 3rd 4x+ in their B final. They also finished as the top-ranked third J15 4x+ at the regatta.
The J14s enjoyed their first experience of NSR, with one A Final and two B Final appearances from our youngest rowers. They raced with the great commitment that we love to see in our crews, and we can’t wait to see how they develop over the course of the next twelve months ahead of NSR 2025.
The wonderful Parent Committee played host to our rowers, coaches and supporters over the course of the three days, and the efforts they went to with the food, drink, music and good company added to a fantastic positive feeling throughout the regatta. The roar from the Perkins tent made a huge difference for our crews, at what was a vital point on the course!
Well done to our rowers, and thank you to our supporters on the bank and coaching team on the towpath – without us all working together as we do, this ground-breaking, unforgettable weekend simply could not have happened.
WALTON & WEYBRIDGE REGATTA
Another interesting and exciting river regatta for our J15s, increasing their range of experiences at an entertaining race just down the river in Walton. Very different from their recent multi-lane racing, a good dose of ‘let’s get on with’ mentality led to wins in the WJ15 1x (Jasmine I-S) and 4x+ (Lydia O, Carmella S, Bella W, Imogen H, Ivy P), and good racing from the whole squad.
HENLEY WOMEN’S REGATTA
A really positive and encouraging weekend for our Senior Squad in Henley, in the first major regatta for our older rowers since National Schools’ the previous month. A transition to the bigger boats ahead of Henley Royal Regatta was a challenge our crews met head-on, with promising results.
The Perkins 1st Quad (Addy P, Annabelle T, Emily N, Maddie M) progressed to the semi-final stage at HWR for the second consecutive year, which as well as providing tremendous race experience, also secured pre-qualification for HRR ten days later.
The 1st Eight (Lottie H, Jess W, Anna S, Megan G, Issy B, Millie P, Sophia D, Charlize B, Darcie B) also impressed, progressing from the time trials into the Round of 16, where they put up a good fight against the strong crew from Henley Rowing Club. Next stop for this crew is the HRR Qualification Race on Friday evening, and we can’t wait to see them in action!
Our Junior Double (Olivia S & Maddie B) and J16 Four (Hannah C, Izzy G, Maisey P, Amelie M, Ivy P) put in battling performances in their time trials, with the double’s result seeing them recorded as the second fastest non-qualifier – a mean feat at this level of event.
HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA
It was a tough day on the famous old course for the Perkins 1st Quad (Addy P, Annabelle T, Emily N, Maddie M) and 1st Eight (Lottie H, Jess W, Anna S, Megan G, Issy B, Millie P, Sophia D, Charlize B, Darcie B) in Henley. The draw pitted our Quad against one of the other semi-finalists from Henley Women’s Regatta, and defending champions, Tideway Scullers, in the first round. The race was nip and tuck throughout, with a committed and attacking performance from our crew, who ultimately fell the wrong side of a three-quarter length margin in what was the quickest junior women’s quads race of the day, against a crew who ultimately made the semi-finals.
The Eight took the challenge to Marlow RC’s junior women with real fight, holding on and pressurising them throughout the race after losing a length in the initial skirmishes. Two performances were are incredibly proud of, and a good illustration of the hard work our girls put in over the month since National Schools’ Regatta.
It was a big goal for this season for our Senior Squad to qualify both the quad and the eight at HRR for a second consecutive season, and we are delighted to have had thirteen Perkins athletes racing down the Henley course once again. Our HRR honours board list continues to grow!
Our rowers move on to their next targets – GB trials, England trials, and the season-closing British Junior Championships.
BOAT CLUB BBQ
In keeping with this season’s weather, our Club BBQ in drizzly, grey conditions certainly didn’t disappoint. The atmosphere around our club is bubbly and infectious, and it was wonderful to have a huge turnout of our whole community to spend time together and celebrate a fantastic twelve months.
We also said thank you and goodbye to two people who have had a huge impact on our Club. Ms Julia Bowden, our Senior Deputy Head, has overseen our operations for the last few years as a huge supporter of everything that we put together for our rowers, and is always a fantastic source of advice. Our recent National Schools’ Regatta medal-winning coxed four will now carry her name.
Miss Jennie Farmer was our Head of Rowing before her work at Perkins became more teaching-based, and she was instrumental in the transformation of rowing into the school’s major elite sport. This included a huge amount of work in the planning and execution of the ambitious boathouse build, and so much of what our rowers enjoy today, and generations will enjoy in the future, is down to her. The ‘Jennie Farmer’ heads straight to Nottingham this week, to be used by the country’s top U19 Women’s Sweep athletes at the Great Britain Rowing Team trials.
Our season is far from done, with GB and England Trials, our Y8 Learn to Row course, and the British Rowing Junior Championships all within the next two weeks. We can’t wait to see what all of our rowers can do!
TVP & READING TOWN REGATTAS
It has been a busy few weeks, as alongside racing at the Henley regattas, our Club has been out in force elsewhere in the Thames Valley.
Rowers from all squads enjoyed the shorter and faster race format, and several crews even had their first taste of racing overseas opposition! We were very proud to see so many athletes competing so well in our colours throughout the summer regatta season, and particular highlights were these wins in the WJ14 8x+ (Kate N, Ashley S, Isla F, Annabel E, Imogen C, Lucy S, Jacinda B, Livvy M, Taniskha R) and WJ18 2x (Olivia S & Maddie B)!
Thank you to all the parents who have been the taxi service and cheering squad throughout such a weather-disrupted season. These days in the sun towards the end of term have really made it all worth it!
