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RGS Rowing Success
3 August 2007
RGS Rowers end season on a high
Our rowers had a highly successful time at the National Rowing Championships recently, coming away with a Silver and a Bronze from four events entered.
With grim weather lashing the country, the competitors had to make three trips to Nottingham through the floods and traffic, but their perseverance was rewarded. Zoe Thompson, competing in WJ16 Single Sculls showed good pace in the time trial to qualify for the final, whilst the newly formed Coxed Four (Chris Horner, Ben Kell, Simon Goldrick, Tom Clark, cox James Higginbottom) in J18 Fours displayed a lack of race experience together, and were one of the slowest boats in qualifying, which meant they started the final as outsiders in an outside lane.
Zoë's Sunday Final began well as she threw down the gauntlet to the favourites from Durham and Canford to take an early lead. The Durham sculler came through strongly to take the lead at half way, but Zoë never relinquished 2nd place, eventually beating the Bronze medallist by six seconds. The medal was a triumph also for Zoë's coach Paul Sterckx, who could not be there for the race as he is preparing to accompany another of his protégées, Sarah Cowburn of Worcester Rowing Club to China for the World Championships.
The much anticipated Coxed Fours final was one of the last races of the weekend, and the RGS crew were not so quick off the start: in the first 1000 metres they were mainly 4th and at times 5th, as the time trial had suggested they would be. But with the lead changing hands in front of them, Tom Clark in the stroke seat, in his last race for the School, mounted a huge challenge with 500 metres to go, and they pulled back a 5 second deficit on Hampton in 3rd place; with 150 metres left they overhauled their rivals, and took a further 5 seconds out of them before the line.
The achievements of both Zoë and the Four are all the more impressive given that the boats that beat them were all selected England and Wales boats for the Home Countries International.