Banyoles Training Camp
Our Senior and J15 Squads enjoyed SWPSBC’s first overseas training camp since 2019, spending a wonderful ten days in the Spanish sun. Lake Banyoles was the venue for the 1992 Olympic Games, and the history of the lake was matched by the stunning scenery which provided the backdrop to our rowers’ training session.
Three and a half weeks’ worth of normal term-time water sessions took place during our time on camp, and the physical, technical and psychological development of all our rowers was so impressive to watch from the coaching launch. These gains set our squads up well for what has proven to be an exciting and successful summer season!
Junior Inter-Regional Regatta
A fantastic day for four of our J15-16 rowers, who were selected to represent the Thames Upriver region in the British Rowing Junior Inter-Regional Regatta. We were delighted to see our WJ16 2x (Annabelle T, Maddie M) scull to a Silver Medal, followed moments later by a brilliantly mature Gold Medal row from our WJ16 2- (Emily N, Alice W). Their results contributed to a top team performance, as Thames Upriver won both the Girls’ and Overall Team Trophies.
Four athletes and four medals was a great return for the first regatta of the season, and a promising start to side-by-side racing for 2023!
Results:
WJ16 2- GOLD
WJ16 2x SILVER
Wallingford Regatta
A good first Dorney regatta of the season, with our J15-18 rowers getting valuable race-experience on the 2012 Olympic course.
The highlight of the day came in the WJ18 2x event, which saw our J18s (Addy P, Anna C) win in style, and our J16s (Annabelle T, Maddie M) race to a strong third place against older opposition. Our coxless four (Ellie L, Tilly H, Olivia S, Charlize B) performed well to make the final of WJ18 4-, with WJ18 4+, WJ15 8+ and another WJ18 4- and WJ18 2x racing hard in their heats.
Junior Sculling Regatta
Day two of racing on a busy May Bank Holiday weekend, and a promising set of results to take into the last month of training ahead of National Schools’ Regatta.
The standout performance of the day came from our WJ15 Quad (Millie P, Emily N, Anna S, Sophia D, Darcie B) who rowed a storming second half to claim the Gold Medal! This was followed by a trio of Bronze Medals from our WJ18 (Addy P, Anna C), WJ17 (Lottie H, Amber S) and WJ16 (Annabelle T, Maddie M) Doubles to solidify medal successes across four year groups. There were also some great lessons learned by two of our WJ14 Octs in their first regatta
Results:
WJ15 4x+ GOLD, 19th
WJ18 2x BRONZE
WJ17 2x BRONZE, 6th
WJ16 2x BRONZE
WJ14 8x+ 11th, 14th
WJ15 2x 16th, 18th
WJ18 4x 18th
National Schools’ Regatta
A brilliant weekend to be associated with our Club, with a second successive 3-medal haul at the biggest junior rowing event in the world. Rowers across age groups excelled, with A Finalists in J14, J15, J16 and Championships events showing the great work taking place with our young rowers throughout the year groups.
Our lead-boat raced in the high calibre Champ 2x event (Addy P, Anna C), and for the second successive year battled to an amazing Silver Medal. The top three crews in the final each contained U19 international medallists, and we are so tremendously proud of the brave, fearless racing that our pairing entertained us with in the final.
There was fantastic racing from our Championship Girls’ 4+ (Evie S, Megan G, Olivia S, Alice W, Darcie B), who rowed a brutal semi-final in style to make the A Final, with our two Champ 4- crews and second Champ 2x racing strongly in their B, C and D Finals.
In the J16 2x, an exhilarating final 750m saw the SWPS duo (Annabelle T, Maddie M) bowball to bowball with the talented Tideway Scullers crew, with the boats separated by just 0.04 seconds at the finish line! For our junior rowers to experience the thrill of such close racing on the national stage, finishing with a Bronze Medal, is amazing experience to add to their racing toolkit.
Our J15 squad raced hard in some brutal events, with a fantastic final sprint from the J15 2nd 4x+ (Immy H, Izzy G, Bessie R, Olivia C, Sahra E) seeing them row clear of fourth, only a canvas behind the 2nd place crew as they won a brilliant Bronze Medal! Their counterparts in the 1st 4x+ event (Millie P, Emily N, Anna S, Sophia D, Darcie B) battled hard from an outside lane to finish 5th in a highly competitive category, and the J15 4+ raced bravely, just missing out on the side-by-side finals.
The J14 Squad put in very promising first NSR with an A Final (Livvy T, Lubov R, Ivy P, Charlotte P, Emma W, Flora M, Imogen H, Katherine J, Sophie R) and two B Final finishes across the three crews. There is a bright future ahead for this squad as they gain racing experience over the coming months and years!
A huge thanks to the Parent Committee for a brilliant supporter hospitality experience – the roar from 650m out inspired our crews to great things, and we were hugely appreciative of your efforts! Thank you to all parents, supporters, and most importantly our rowers for a wonderful weekend on Dorney Lake!
Results:
Championship Girls’ 2x SILVER
J16 Girls’ 2x BRONZE
J15 Girls’ 2nd 4x+ BRONZE
J15 Girls’ 1st 4x+ 5th
J14 Girls’ 2nd 8x+ A 6th
Championship Girls’ 4+ 8th
J14 Girls’ 1st 8x+ 8th
Championship Girls’ 4- A 10th
J14 Girls’ 2nd 8x+ B 11th
Championship Girls’ 4- B 14th
J15 Girls’ 4+ 19th
Championship Girls’ 2x B 31st
Metropolitan Regatta
After a tough three days of Senior Squad crew testing, our newly-formed 1st Quad and 1st Eight had their first competitive outing yesterday at Met Regatta. It was fantastic to get these crews out racing so early into each project, with promising performances in both the Time Trials and Finals. Racing in events that combine all Women’s crews of that boat type into the same finals, regardless of age, created close racing which sets our boats up well for what lies ahead!
Results:
1st 4x
4th WJ18 4x
10th of 23 Women’s 4x
1st 8+
3rd WJ18 8+
38th of 56 Women’s 8+
Chris Muller Boat Naming
Our Senior Squad and Parents gathered in early June to thank and celebrate our outgoing Head, Mr Chris Muller, for the unerring support he has provided our Club over the course of his Headship. He was a driving force behind the significant investment in our building, growing the fleet of boats, and supporting our aims to provide a performance sport environment for our athletes.
Our new 1st 8+ has been in action at Henley Women’s Regatta, then the Henley Royal Regatta Qualification Races. We will be proud to carry the name Chris Muller with us, now and into the future.
Henley Women’s Regatta
It was an exciting and productive weekend on the historic Henley course for our Senior Squad boats, which included rowers from J14-18.
Our 1st 4x produced a mature regatta, backing up an encouraging TT performance with progression all the way to the Semi-Finals! SWPS has never previously reached this stage in the J4x at HWR, and after a tremendous race saw them row down St Edward’s School to win by a canvas, it took the National Schools’ Regatta champions, Wycliffe College, to prevent them from reaching the Final. The crew heads directly to Henley Royal Regatta having gained pre-qualification thanks to this sterling result!
Our 1st 8+ attacked the Time-Trial with determination to make the top-16, and were subsequently drawn against the National Schools’ champions, Headington. They may have lost out at this stage, but these racing experiences on the Henley course set the 8+ in good stead to do battle at HRR Qualifiers later in the month.
Our other boats narrowly missed qualification for the knock-out rounds – our J4+ as fastest non-qualifier. Our J2x raced with their usual grit and enthusiasm, and the J16 4+ (which included a mixture of J14-16 athletes) gained the experience of racing down the famous old course for the first time!
We were so proud to see the way all of our crews raced over the course of the weekend, and seeing how much they enjoyed being a part of history on one of the most famous stretches of river in world rowing!
