The Salopian no. 160 - Summer 2017

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SCHOOL NEWS
RSSBC
The Michaelmas term saw favourable river conditions allowing large numbers of pupils to get plenty of
time out on the water and competing in the numerous head races on offer.
The annual Victoria, Sabrina and
Williams Sculls took place on
Saturday 17th September. The Victoria
Sculls was won by Upper Sixth Former
Matthew Rowe (SH) ahead of a trio
of Port Hill boys. The girls’ division
was won by Lower Sixth new entrant
Jennifer Hallsworth (EDH). The Sabrina
Sculls (J16) boys event was won by
Adam Pattenden (S) and girls event by
Tessa Scott-Bell (MSH). The Williams
Sculls (J15) boys event was won by
Louis Nares (Rb) and girls event by Lara
Gabbitas (EDH).
Matt Rowe
Jenny Hallsworth
The Boat Club celebrated its annual
Dinner on Thursday 22nd September,
following the whole-school
Sponsored Walk for the Shewsy. The
rowers were treated to a fantastic and
well-deserved meal for their efforts.
The tremendous atmosphere was
complemented by the inspiring story
of Matthew Langridge’s journey from
junior rower (starting out not far from
Shrewsbury) to four-time Olympian in
his successful questfor Gold.
Four squads of pupils raced in twenty
five crew combinations to the Bedford
Autumn Head. The senior girls got
the season off to a great start winning
the WIM3 and WJ18 doubles. The J15
boys came in 1st and 2nd in the coxed
quadruple sculls event out of fifteen
crews and picked up second place
in both the coxed fours and doubles
events. The J15 girls also recorded some
encouraging results, with the fastest
double coming in 2nd out of a field of
twenty one crews. In the quad, the girls
came 3rd and 4th out of nine crews.
Over the October half term a squad
of thirty three J16 and senior rowers
were treated to fantastic conditions on a
week-long training camp in Laias, Spain.
The venue provided excellent land
training facilities and the Castrelo de
Miño reservoir offered a large expanse
of over nine kilometres of flat water to
train on with barely a breath of wind
throughout the week.
The squad covered a significant amount
of mileage during the course of the
camp and were delighted to have
access to the hotels spa facilities in their
down time to recover. Each evening
after dinner the pupils were given a
short talk by one of the coaches sharing
their knowledge to help the pupils to
take an active role in their personal
development both on and off the water.
The wealth of expertise imparted from
the coaching team and the strong club
ethos was great to be part of. On return
the sore limbs and blistered hands
were a sign of a tough week of training
but after a few days rest the skills,
memories and photos will be the most
lasting of impacts.
Six RSSBC crews competed at the Fours
Head of the River at Hammersmith on
Saturday 12th November, which saw
four hundred and sixty five crews racing
in different events. The pick of the
results came from the senior girls’ quad
which came fifth in a very strong field.
Twenty-one RSSBC crews entered the
Northwich Autumn Head on Sunday
13th November. Six of them were the
new Third Form pupils racing in their
first ever race. In the WJ14 quads’ event,
the girls finished 5th and 7th out of the
eleven crews. In the J14 quads’ event,
the boys had four crews entered and
came 2nd, 6th, 9th and 11th of the
eleven crews in the event. The J15 boys
and girls produced the best results of
the day with excellent results in all the
events entered including winning both
the boys’ and the girls’ quads events.
On Saturday 3rd December the Boat
Club had a significant number of
crews racing at both the Wycliffe Head
in Gloucester and the Head of the
Float in Liverpool. The Club recorded
some outstanding results, with every
age group for both the boys and girls
squads bringing home silverware. At the
Wycliffe Head there were wins for the
senior boys in the Open men’s quad,
coxed four, coxless four and pair. The
senior girls won the Open women’s
double. The J16 boys recorded wins in
the J18 coxed fours, J16 coxed fours and
novice quad. The J16 girls were third
in the novice quad. The J15 girls came
second in the J15 quad and doubles
event.
At the Head of the Float the J15 boys
won the novice and J16 eights events
and the novice and J15 coxed quad
events. The J14 boys and girls both won
their respective octuple categories.
The favourable river conditions
continued into the Lent term and
were to the benefit of the whole club
as for the first time in many years
all age groups took to the water in
January. Two J16 eights raced at the
Head of the Severn held in Worcester
on Sunday 29th January. The crews
both performed well, racing in the J18
Wycliffe Head 3rd VIII