Bedford Regatta Report

One of the highlights of the summer season, Bedford Regatta offers crews the intense nature of one on one racing on the narrow Great Ouse river. With crews often scraping the bank as they hug the inside of the bend, spectators need to watch their legs if sitting too near the edge. Another glorious day of sunshine and great racing had the bank packed with supporters and FASBC put on another fantastic spread in hosting everyone just near the finish line.

With crews involved in 35 races from 9:30 in the morning till 19:30 at night it was a long day with seven Abingdon crews involved in finals. Three crews ended up taking home event wins. The J16 B crew were the first to get their racing going with a 9:29 race. By that point the banks were already pretty packed and they knew that the biggest competition was probably in the first race against local rivals Radley. Having started on the outside they knew if they could hold Radley round the bend then they would have a great chance. This is what unfolded and once they got to the bridge they pushed on to take the win by nearly a length. They went on to win the final with a comfortable win over Bedford. The crew of Joe, Fin, Ben, Max, Harry, Fred, Laurie, Josh and cox, Zac, raced again in Band 3 open eights making it to the semi final and losing narrowly to Bedford’s 16A boat.

Our 16 A boat raced in fours and the eight. The eight dispatched a crew from South Africa in their first race before moving on to all the fours races. One of the fours made it to the final but unfortunately one of the crew fell ill at the start meaning they had to row over handing the South Africans the win. Showing the strength of the squad, Laurie jumped up for the final of the eight and helped the crew take a strong win over Radley. Although unfortunate, these things can happen around racing and the squad showed great character to overcome this challenge and put in a great performance epitomising resilience and teamwork. This was summed up when all 10 students collected the prizes at the end of the day. Barnie, Oli, Monty, Max, Toby, Hector, Willem, Laurie, Henry and Conor.

The J15 squad took on the regatta in three eights with the B crew also racing in Band 4 open eights. The A crew doubled up in coxed fours for the first time. The C crew dispatched Eton in the first round but then as with the A and B crews came up against the might of St Pauls. St Pauls are currently the dominant school in junior rowing not just in the UK but worldwide and it was unfortunate that we came up against them so early in each event. All three St Pauls crews went on to win their events. The coxed fours got their racing off to a good start with wins in the quarter finals before both went out at the semi final stage. It was great to see them racing in the smaller boats and gaining more experience racing in different boats.

The J14 squad were taking on their first ever river race having only raced on Dorney Lake previously. As well as enjoying the fierce racing on the water it was great to see them enjoying the bankside, cheering on the other students and enjoying the brilliant hospitality put on by FASBC. The A crew had a tough first race against Bedford with the top end speed of the boat causing a few accidents along the way. To only lose by 1 length is a testament to the speed in this group and we are sure with the training ahead we will see some more exciting racing over the rest of the season. The B, C and D crews all made it through to the semi finals of their respective events but it was a similar story as the J15’s where we came up against the might of St Pauls. St Pauls went on to win these events but it is very encouraging to see the students competing at such a high level. Especially in the C octo event where both semi finals were Abingdon v St Pauls.

The senior pupils were racing in four coxed four across the J18 and open events. The first eight was also racing in open eights. The eight came up against Radley in the semi final and as with the J16’s early came out victorious. This saw them race Bedford in the final with Bedford taking the win in a tightly fought race. The second eight were racing in two fours in the open event. Both of them progressed through to the semi final stage where they both came up against crews from University of East Anglia. The A boat progressed to the final but after leading for the first half of the race just couldn’t hang on to the superior strength of their opposition losing by a couple of lengths. The first eight were in the J18 event. A number of crews pulled out before the day started but after one of the fours beat Eton in the semi it was an all Abingdon final with the J17’s taking the win over the J18’s by only half a length in a brilliant last race of the day. It was great to see the fierce competition between teammates but also the camaraderie on the finish line.

A big thank you to all the coaches, teachers and parents for making it such a wonderful whole club day. There is something very special about every year group racing together and seeing the students cheering on their teammates from the river bank. The students now have two weeks of training before we all head to Nottingham for this year's National Schools Regatta. For those parents who rowed themselves this should be slightly nostalgic with National Schools being held in Nottingham prior to 2015 when it moved to Dorney Lake.