Yesterday we attended the second regatta of the year, for the GORSE boat club. The athletes, once again, rose to the occasion in the blistering heat over in Runcorn. We had 32 athletes make the trip over to row in the Ball Cup regatta. The regatta was a round robin over 300m of river, which, meant students raced up to 6 times, back to back. This really tested their fitness and meant that the race starts really mattered.
Please see write up below from Matt Dawson.
First out on the course were the two J14 girls’ boats. After some tough opposition they were able to come 4th and 5th in a stacked category. The girls became happier with each race even through the losses in the competition and said that they learnt more about themselves as a team by getting so many opportunities to race in a short space of time.
WJ14 4X+ – Seren Sharrif, Skye Taylor, Amber Rolfe, Amelia Corby, Alba Griffiths (Cox)
WJ14 4X+ – Nicole Brown, Valerie Mensah, Siena Griffiths, Alexandra Lvli, Jess Davis (Cox)
Next on the course was the J15 boy’s double. After only one session together in a small boat the boys were nervous but ready to take on the challenge. They had a row over In their first heat so could get used to the boat and racing it. Then improved in both of the following races but were beaten by crews that had trained for 2 years together. Both admitting that the better crews won, but proud of themselves for putting up a fight against tough competition.
J15 2X – Will Warren, Jakub Brezinski – Bronze
Then the three J13 boys’ boats took to the river, The Band 1 boat cruised through their competition with easy after a few pre-race nerves to take the gold medal in the top band. And the 2nd boat had some tough competition but were also able to take the gold in band 2! The third boat had a great first race experience but ultimately just came up short coming 4th in their band, but all loved racing and keen to go again! This was incredible to watch, and all boys rowed superbly.
J13 4X+ – Noel Achaempong, Divynash Singh, Oscar Smith, Sam Cundell Horten, Jess Davis (Cox) – Gold (Band 1)
J13 4X+ – Seb McKenzie, Ethan Smith, Harry Clifford, Lucas Porritt-Rosero, Alba Griffiths (Cox) – Gold (Band 2)
J13 4X+ – Cian Murphy, Eliza Wright, Amanda Ameyaw, Edward Thomas, Jess McQuattie (Cox)
The J13 girls started their competition in style cruising easily through to the win in their first 2 races. Their competition all came down to the final race against Trafford. After a tight start, the crews came to the 200m mark level, but Trafford were able to push ahead in the last 100m to win by half a length. The girls were undoubtably disappointed, but this reflects the level of care they are finding and hungry for the win at their next race.
J13 4X+ – Phoebe Wheldon, Alexia Kaiser, Jess McQuattie, Abbie Luk, Aaron Oppong (Cox) – Silver
After then a 4 hour wait in the 30-degree heat, the J14 boys finally got onto the water and did it with some style. The Band 1 boat had 3 hard fought races, especially against queen’s park but were able to win the event by over 2 lengths. The boys were ecstatic about this victory, and it sets them up really well for the British Championships next Monday. The Band 2 boat also cruised through their first 2 races of the event. It all came down to the final. The crew was leading for the first half of the race and were a length up over the home crew of Runcorn. But a small mistake sent a shock through the crew and caused them to catch a crab, losing the lead and having to settle for the silver medal. The crew, mostly made up of J13s really rose to the occasion and the small mistake doesn’t take away from how well they did in the event.
J14 4X+ – Divynash Singh, Noel Achaempong, Ryan Atkins, Will Warren, Ethan Smith (Cox) – Gold (Band 1)
J14 4X+ – Oscar Smith, Seb Mckenzie, Sam Cundell Horten, Seb Davis, Sienna Griffiths (Cox) – Silver (Band 2)
The officials also made multiple comments through the day about the behaviour of our students and said it was a pleasure dealing with our athletes and coaches and the behaviour should be modelled by other clubs while staff members were and weren’t present. They said the exemplary behaviour set out by our students was a credit and we would be welcomed back to Runcorn with open arms any time we want to attend! It is also so nice from our point of view for the athletes to be getting along so well from being at so many different schools, the culture that the athletes are building is really welcoming, and we hope everybody can see this soon!
Overall, we medaled in 6/9 boats, with 19 athletes medaling overall! The MVPs of the day were the coxes. All steering a great line and encouraging their crews to be the best they could be. Coxing, and instructing people older (and bigger!) than them through the day.
The next event it the British championships for our top J14 boats on Monday the 21st of July at the Nottingham water sports centre. This will be the first time TGBC takes to the national stage, and we are looking forward to seeing how the athletes perform next to some big names such as the Windsor Boys School. Crew announcements will be done on the Gorse Gets Healthy Instagram over the next few days
Clubs present at the regatta;
- Gorse
- Runcorn
- Warrington
- Agecroft
- Queens park
- Trafford
- Royal Chester
- Grovesner
- Northwhich
- Mersy
Thank you Matt for the write up, and thank you to all the rowing team for a great day, with a rather late finish. Great team effort.
