On Monday 19th May Forms 7 and 8 competed in the finals of our Divisional Indoor Rowing competition. All the children had already taken part in heats, with points awarded for places 5-10 in the league and the top 4 rowers progressing to the final. The atmosphere in the Chapel was fantastic with huge support from the spectators and we saw fantastic PB rows from almost all of the competitors as a result.

For the F7 individual races, rowers had 2 minutes to row as far as they could and winners were Wilf for Bruce, rowing a fantastic 525m and Helena for Graham, winning by a clear margin with a stylish row of 451m. It is always a good sign when someone’s technique is well embedded so that they make rowing look relaxed, fluid and controlled as Helena and Wilf do.  The Form 8 competitors had 3 minutes to row as far as they could and these races were won by Lottie for Bruce, with an impressive PB of 741m and Jamie for Bruce with another PB and school record of 843m. Jamie’s focus, coordination and power are exciting to watch and this record could well stand for some time.

Next up were the relay races, in teams of 4 with each rower rowing 250m. The staff kicked off proceedings. Clearly in a busy school like ours practice is a luxury we hadn’t had, and a quick demonstration of how to do the change-overs was required before we started, but the competitive team spirit made it a great event backed up by thunderous pupil support. Bruce came first, with a very creditable time of 4min 23.7sec. Now the pupils had a chance to show us how it is really done. 2 girls and 2 boys row in any order in each Mixed team and the teams had, despite some last minute substitutions due to illness, worked hard to hone their change-overs and make sure each rower was fully supported. The Mixed F7 race was won by Bruce in a time of 4min 20.9 sec, although Graham and Stuart were extremely close behind them, so this is definitely one to watch for next year. And finally the Mixed F8 teams rowed, with Bruce once again winning in 3min 41.6 sec.

Our guest of honour was former pupil Melissa Wilson, who took up rowing at Cambridge University and rowed as Stroke in the victorious Cambridge boat in the 2017 Women’s Boat Race before going on row with the British team. She now works with an organisation she founded called Athletes for the World an organisation which supports athletes as advocates for change and progress in the face of the world's challenges. We were delighted that she agreed to come and join us for the afternoon and give out medals and great to hear her response to the event. She told us that in all her races she had never heard cheering like it!

Bruce were overall victors once again with 79 points, with Graham in second place (69 points). It will be interesting to see if one of the other divisions can turn the tables on them next year!

Full results:

Form 7 Boys Individual (2 min)	1st	Wilf	Bruce	525m (1:54.2) PB
	2nd	Monty	Stuart	507m (1:58.3) PB
	3rd	Hamish	Stuart	487m (2:03.2) PB
	4th	Geordie	Graham	479m (2:05.2) PB
Form 7 Girls Individual (2 min)	1st	Helena	Graham	451m (2:13,0) PB
	2nd	Alice B	Graham	437m (2:17.3) PB
	3rd	Zinnia	Stuart	421m (2:22.5) PB
	4th	Alice L	Wallace	413m (2:25.2) PB
Form 8 Boys Individual (2 min)	1st	Jamie	Bruce	843m (1:46.7) PB SR
	2nd	Leonardo	Stuart	755m (1:59.2) PB
	3rd	Arthur	Bruce	754m (1:59.3) PB
	4th	Edward	Graham	649m (2:18.6)
Form 8 Girls Individual (2 min)	1st	Lottie	Bruce	741m (2:01.4) PB SR
	2nd	Cecilia	Graham	720m (2:05.0) PB
	3rd	Emilia	Wallace	686m (2:11.2) PB
	4th	Olivia	Wallace	662m (2:15.9)

The school record for each event prior to this year as follows:

2min race Boys 547m, Girls 522m

3min race Boys 827m, Girls 704m

Staff Mixed Relay (4 x 250m)	1st	Bruce	4:23.7 min
	2nd	Stuart	3:41.1 min
	3rd	Graham	3:40.3 min + 5sec*
	4th	Wallace	3:41.3 min
Form 7 Mixed Relay (4 x 250m)	1st	Bruce	4:20.5 min
	2nd	Graham	4:22.9 min
	3rd	Stuart	4:23.0 min
	4th	Wallace	4:29.7 min
Form 8 Mixed Relay (4 x 250m)	1st	Bruce	3:41.6 min
	2nd	Stuart	4:02.6 min
	3rd	Wallace	4:13.4 min
	4th	Graham	4:24.4 min

*Penalty applied due to missed change-over

Total points:

Bruce: 79

Graham: 69

Stuart: 64

Wallace: 53