National Schools’ Regatta 2022
St Edward’s pupils performed brilliantly at this year’s National Schools’ Regatta at Dorney Lake in Windsor. Thank you to all the rowers, coaches, parents and support staff for making the weekend one to remember. Below is a full report on their performance and you can watch highlights of the regatta on Teddies TV.
Fred Tao reports on the Shell boys:
The margins between success and relative ‘failure’ are fine and painful, not least during the National Schools’ Regatta time trials, just as it was in 2012 for Olympians on the very same rowing lake. The Shell squad trained hard pushing themselves and each other, readying themselves to give of their best, yearning for that elusive great crew row. The A octo pushed through a good time trial to make the top twelve nationally. Whilst the Bs agonisingly missed the final round by 0.08 secs, less than a blink of an eye – unlucky thirteenth.
It matters not whether the loss was down to a missed catch by others or the more obvious small crab by one, because the B’s pushed themselves and worked as a crew. Even without the absences and the injuries in the run up to the race, to make the top thirteen of B crews nationally is no mean feat. The B final for the A’s was agonising in a different way. After a clean start the transition to race pace led to a jammed seat and then a boat-filling crab and finally a snapped oar. Frustration and disappointment. What might have been.
On that gloriously hot blue-skied Friday, the sun shone on the righteous and the unrighteous as it did for our A’s and the B’s. Both look back on ‘what ifs’, just as both know that there is more to come for them in rowing. A harsh ‘day at the office’ but much learnt and much to look forward to next year when they will return to the Olympic lake.
Teddies J14 Boys
Sophie Waldock reports on the Shell girls:
The Shell girls made a great debut at their first National Schools’ Regatta. They rose admirably to the challenge of such a large and potentially daunting event, taking everything in their stride. Great coxing from Katie Mok kept the crew in all the right places and Kaia Christensen set a steady rhythm for everyone to follow. The girls pulled hard through their time trial, giving us lots to cheer for on the sidelines. They didn’t progress to a final, but it was a unified and tidy final race of the year for the crew.
Teddies J14 Girls
Eve Singfield reports on the J15 girls:
An enthusiastic group of Fourth Form girls enabled us to enter two fours at the National Schools’ Regatta this year. Having raced at a number of events in the lead up to NSR, crews were only finalised in the final week. This meant a reshuffle for both crews.
The first race was a time trial for both crews. The B crew of Charlotte Baker, Daisy Martin, Omolara Sowande, Poppy Luttrell-Hunt and Freddie Samuel, who stepped into cox on the day, set off at a cracking pace and had a good tussle with the crew starting behind them. Sadly, they couldn’t maintain this momentum over the 1000m course and with only 12 of the 25 crews going through to the finals, they were unable to qualify.
The A crew of Fifi Pucks-Fazel, Emily Orpen, Ellie Jackson, Julia Simmonds and cox Reine Lam, set a strong pace throughout their time trial and were delighted to finish 2nd overall, securing an A final place and a chance to race for a medal. As the day progressed, the water conditions worsened, (although, the racing lanes were fair – something of a rarity for Dorney Lake) with a strong tail wind, ensuring a fast race. The Teddies crew had a good start, ensuring they were in the pack, with Wallingford Rowing Club, taking a lead, followed by Walton Rowing Club. Through the halfway point, Teddies were in 3rd place, but being challenged strongly by Haberdashers Monmouth School. The girls held their nerve and, urged on by Reine Lam in the cox’s seat, responded to the repeated challenges put on them by Haberdashers and crossed the line in 3rd place – a bronze medal.
This was a great performance by the crew, but also by the squad as a whole. Competition for places in the National Schools’ crews was strong and this has certainly helped the performance of the team. Special mention should go to Daisy Martin, who only restarted rowing in the summer term and also to Fifi Pucks-Fazel who started rowing on the Easter training camp and has made remarkable progress.
Teddies J14 Girls
John Wiggins reports on the J15 boys:
The J15 boys eight found the 2022 Nat Schools to be a huge learning experience, perhaps more so than a true demonstration and celebration of their potential and capabilities. The exception to this would be their ability to bounce back and keep going which they did admirably and all of this over a ridiculously long time scale, commencing with a 4.30am alarm call. On the water before 8am at Dorney lake they found a brisk tailwind which didn’t suit so well, but a spirited row over the 2000m Olympic course just managed to get them within the top 12 for a semi-final race 4 hours later. Over-exuberance may have been the reason that our giant 5 man became separated from his seat within the first few strokes; the disconnection was irreversible and continued for the remainder of the race though he and his crew gamely held on at the back of the race – their reward another opportunity in the B final. Here they demonstrated again their fighting capacity remaining in contact with the leaders but just missing out on 3rd place in the dying moments. This group contains some indomitable spirit, and most will be back next year ready to step on and up.
From the B group, a late plan emerged to challenge at NSR in the coxed four where alongside other schools’ B/C squad crews there were top crews from smaller boat clubs. They made huge progress both technically and physically in the weeks leading up to the regatta and were only 7 seconds off qualifying for the relatively few semi-final places. We look forward to seeing these young men develop over the coming years, from whom we are sure there is much more to come.
Teddies J14 Boys
Mike Glover reports on the boys’ 2nd VIII:
The 2nd VIII got their day off to a solid start placing 3rd in the TT behind strong crews from Eton & Shiplake. They progressed into the final via a tightly contested semi-final with Eton just ahead of Teddies and St Paul’s coming in to take the 3rd qualifying place. Building through the day they finished the final with their best race of the season narrowly missing out on the medals and placing 4th.
This was an excellent result and this young crew continues to make progress with every event they enter, and I expect more of the same over the final few weeks of term.
Jonny Singfield reports on the boys’ 1st VIII:
For pretty much the first time in competition this year we were able to boat a healthy and at full strength 1st VIII for NSR. The boys started the day well with a very strong row to win the time trial. This was a crucial win as it was decided the lanes for the semi-final would be seeded, based on the TT result, so for once we came out on the good side of that decision getting lane 1 in the semi-final.
The boys rowed maturely getting out well and containing a fast starting KCS in the first half before edging out to a quarter length lead, which we added a little to in the last 250m, thus qualifying for the final and gaining lane 2. Eton were slightly faster in winning the other semi thus gaining the top seeded lane 1.
In the final the VIII had a decent start but Eton had a very good start and moved out to a half length at 500m gone, worryingly taking Shiplake with them being a quarter length up. The VIII were always up on KCS although by only a few feet. Over the next two minutes the VIII set about reeling in Shiplake and moved out to half a length up by 500m to go. The VIII were now in 2nd, a quarter length up on KCS, half a length up on Shiplake but still half a length down on Eton. The VIII held their nerve well in the last 250m throwing everything they had left to hold the desperate last charge of KCS and the rapidly closing Shiplake to win silver, our first medal in Championship VIII’s since a silver in 2013, but unfortunately not being able to close that half length to Eton.
Teddies 1st VIII Boys
Natasha Townsend reports on the girls’ 1st VIII:
On Saturday 28th May, our St Edward’s girls’ 1st VIII raced at the National Schools’ Regatta. In the morning, the girls competed in a tightly fought time trial, where we placed 2nd to Surbiton High School by 0.7 of a second! This was a fantastic start and gave the girls the confidence they needed moving forward. After placing 2nd in the time trial, we progressed through to the semi-finals where we went on to race the overall winners. The girls had a fantastic race, we were neck and neck with Henley Boat Club until 1500m of a 2000m course. This allowed us and Henley to break clear of the rest of the field making us clear contenders for the A final. After a good debrief the girls were in great spirits to race the final, which took place at 7.08pm… a long day of racing! The St Edward’s girls really did do us proud. They fought tooth and nail and lead the race showing pure grit and determination. Coming into the last 500m of the race, the girls were in contention for a bronze medal but unfortunately due to tricky wind conditions, we didn’t quite have enough to hang on.
The coaching staff were so impressed with how the girls attacked the race and carried themselves throughout the regatta. We are all very excited for the rest of our summer racing season and the girls should be so proud of making history for St Edwards’ School!
Teddies 1st VIII Girls
Watch highlights from Teddies at the regatta on Teddies TV.